Time Passes
by Gaia 479
Summary: The Sequel to 'What may come to pass' concludes as the weekend ends. Monday morning is here, Life goes on. The Gravedigger Business is finally resolved...All is well. For now. FOXOwnsBOnes. XO to them.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey. It begins, or continues... however you look at it...happy reading._

_XO_

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Chapter One:

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Angela was awoken by the sound of the bedroom door opening. The book she had been reading had fallen on her face when she had fallen asleep, and she smiled when she moved it aside and was greeted by the warm smile of Hodgins.

"Sorry Angie, I didn't mean to wake you up." He went to her and kissed her gently on the forehead while he started to take off his jacket.

"It's okay. I was trying to wait up for you but I must have dozed off. What took you so long?" She watched him as he prepared to join her in the bed.

"A new body came in just after you left, and Cam wanted me to run an analysis on the clothing to see if there was anything that would help us identify who he was, or where he had recently been. You would have loved it... it was a gooey one. They found it in a sewer."

"Hmm. Sorry I missed that." Angela went back to the book she had been reading, she had fallen asleep at a really good part, and she wanted to see how it played out. She already knew how it ended but she wanted to read it again, just to be sure.

The final part anyway... where the girl finally gets the guy.

Jack climbed into the bed beside her and lay down close to her. He leaned his head on her shoulder and tried to read the book over her arm. He laughed when he saw which one it was.

"Haven't you read that enough yet? This is what...your fifth time?" He kissed her shoulder, and crept the kisses slowly to the back of her neck. He felt her shudder, and he smiled.

"Seriously, this is her best book yet. I can tell she's so happy because of the way she writes. And the sex scenes between her main character and the FBI agent...whoo! They have definitely gotten a lot hotter since those two hooked up for real. Wherever they are... I'm pretty sure they are enjoying themselves!" She smiled at the man beside her, happy as ever that they had come to their senses and decided to live their lives together. She had never been happier.

"That's probably how they have two kids already! Lots and lots of practice." His kisses to her neck got a little bit slower, a little bit more tender, and she turned to the man,

"It'll happen for us, Sweetie. We just have to be patient. Our kids will come... everything happens eventually..."

He took the book from her hand and tossed it over his shoulder as his lips connected with hers. She laughed for only a second and then was otherwise occupied by their own efforts at conception.

Morning came quickly for the two, and they still had time and energy for one more quick try at conceiving their own child. It had been six months since they had decided it was time for their own kids. Six months had passed since Angela had gotten the post card in the mail which made her jealous enough of her best friend's life to want one of her own. Six months, and nothing so far.

Not that they weren't trying.

They showered together and readied themselves for work together and drove to the Jeffersonian in the same car. They only parted when Cam wanted to speak to Hodgins to get an update of any results he had found from the tests he had begun running the evening before.

As Cam walked off, and before he followed her, he turned back to Angela with a wink.

"See you for lunch? Same time, same place?"

She returned the wink and carried on to her own office. On her desk, waiting for her, was a skull with a post-it note stuck to it. She shook her head and snorted as she pulled the note off. It was from Wendell, asking her to put a face to the unknown man. She picked up the skull and started her initial observations of how deep certain tissue markers should be, and not long after, she was lost in the task.

The morning passed quickly, and her stomach growling drew her attention back to the time. She was going to meet Hodgins at the new Egyptian store room, and she was already late. There would be no time for food for lunch. She thought she could grab something later.

As she hurried through the lab, her attention was caught by Agent Sullivan and Deputy Director Cullen speaking to Cam, Wendell and Hodgins on the platform. Hodgins waved her to join them when she caught his eye.

The two men waited for the artist before they continued. Angela really wondered what was going on. Cam looked upset, and Jack looked at her carefully as though he was trying to figure something out.

She leaned on one of the lighted tables and the two men continued with the explanation as to why they were there. Cullen did the speaking.

"So, Miss Montenegro, just to catch you up, Doctor Hodgins discovered something in the pocket of the jacket found with the body that was brought in to the Jeffersonian yesterday, and he called us with what he discovered. It turns out... the note was a handwritten copy of some information that was under the highest level of security, detailing a date and some coordinates, and the names of the people involved. It was known only by three people, and two of them are Agent Sullivan and I. The third was an undercover agent who had been trying to find out all he could about the Gravedigger's Crew and had finally found them about three months ago. He was in deep with them, but he kept in regular contact with us until about a week ago. Then all communication stopped."

Cullen paused and the Squints looked at each other to see who was following. Everyone seemed to be.

"Do you think this body is your undercover agent?" Angela asked Cullen.

He nodded.

"We need you to identify him right away. We need to know what happened. Booth and Brennan could be in a lot of danger if any one of the Crew has seen that note. It contained vital information about a rendezvous spot where we were supposed to meet them."

Sully took over the story now.

"We have identified the Crew, but we have no evidence that they have done anything wrong. They all have clean records, except we know that they, with Heather Taffet, were responsible for the explosion at the Jeffersonian where those five people died. Including Agent Perotta."

Everyone saw the pain that was still in Sully's eyes when her name was mentioned.

"We were planning on setting a trap for them, and Booth and Brennan had agreed to be the bait. They are tired of being on the run and they all want to come back to DC. We're all sick of waiting for the Crew to make their move, so we're going to set them up. Now, we're worried that they might have caught on to our plan."

Angela couldn't keep the excitement from her voice in spite of the news that her friends were about to risk their lives to catch the people who wanted them dead.

"They're coming back? When?"

"Our people were supposed to meet them south of Cuba yesterday, but we got word from the Coast Guard that they didn't show up. They're fifteen hours late, and we need to know if the dead man is who we think he is, and then we need to find the Crew before they find Booth and Tempe."

Sully looked around the room and saw similar expressions on every single face. Worry and anticipation. Everyone there wanted to see their friends who they hadn't seen in so long, and their kids, who nobody had ever seen.

"What can we do?" Cam asked the two men standing before them.

They asked to see the body, and when they did, Sully was sure that it was the man who they thought it was. His age and height seemed right. Angela confirmed it for them when she showed them the computer generated simulation of what the man's face may have looked like. Cullen asked the Squints to find out how he had died, and he and Sully left quickly to make finding Booth and Brennan, and their family, the top priority of the FBI.

The Squints were left by themselves in the autopsy room. Even though it had been rebuilt after the explosion, it was the very room where Bones had given birth to her daughter. Cam smiled at the memory, even though at the time, it had been a life-threatening situation.

Hodgins came up to Angela from her side, and gently placed his hand on her back.

"I'm sure they'll be fine Ange. Look how much they've already been through... If they can't take care of themselves, then I don't know who can."

"I hope so. I hope they're okay. I miss them so much, and I really want to meet the little Booths. I bet they're both gorgeous." Hodgins caught the longing smile on her face, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She smiled at him, and Cam cleared her throat.

They both looked to her, and she suggested that the sooner they found the cause of death and any information they could about the dead undercover agent, the sooner their friends could come home.

As they each went about their specific jobs, Angela and Cam joked about the family. Neither one of them could imagine Brennan with one kid, never mind two. They both wondered how they were dealing. They both wondered if they were safe.

Two days passed and the Squints had collected all the information they could find about the murdered man and passed it on to Cullen and Sully. They heard nothing in return from the FBI and they all were worried about what was happening. They didn't like being kept in the dark, but they understood that the lives of their friends and their kids were in grave danger. Their whereabouts had to be kept secret until they were safe.

Angela hoped that was soon. She missed her friend so much, and had tried to push it to the back of her mind the entire time they had been gone, but now that she knew they longed to come home, her excitement for their return dominated her thoughts.

Those thoughts were in her head while she waited for her lunch date to meet her at the Diner. She randomly fidgeted with items on the table while she waited. Her head was suddenly brought up when a man stopped at the end of her table.

She looked at the man and her jaw dropped as she recognized the Navy Seal who had disappeared with Booth and Brennan. Their own personal body guard. Her jaw dropped further as she looked at the little girl tucked in his arm. His other hand held a baby carrier with a blanket thrown over it.

Angela was speechless as she stared at the little girl. There was no denying her paternity. She was the spitting image of Booth, with one exception; she had her mother's bright blue eyes. The blue eyes looked at her now with a familiar look of apprehension. The small girl seemed unsure of who this woman was. Angela continued to stare, and Murphy finally had to break her shock.

"Ange, I have to be quick about this... Seel and Temperance have the Crew on their tail and I snuck away with the kids in the middle of the night. She said to trust you, and that you would keep them safe. She said to find Max if you could. He would know what to do, but I think I'm being followed... I lost the guy just a couple of blocks ago, and Temperance said you might be here if you weren't at the Jeffersonian, and I called there... so I have to drop them with you and try to see if I can find the tail and get him to follow me further away from the kids. You'll help us right? Things are moving fast now, and I've got to go, before buddy figures out what I've just done."

He handed the small girl over to the artist and set the carrier on the table. The little girl reached her arms back to the man, but he just kissed her on the cheek.

"Bye kiddo. I'll see you soon okay! Be a good girl for your Aunty Angela." Murphy brushed her dark hair behind her ears. He looked to Angela who was still shocked, and her eyes went from his to the girl now on her lap who looked like she was about to cry. Angela tickled her and the little girl just looked at her.

While the girl was turned away from him, Murphy started to make a motion for the door, but Angela finally found her voice,

"Wait, I don't even know his name! What am I supposed to do? What's going on?"

Murphy stopped and turned back to her, but he didn't want to set Payton off crying, so he stayed where he was. It broke his heart to have to leave the little girl with someone who was a stranger to her, but Brennan said there was only one person she trusted as much as Booth and that was Angela.

"His name is Rio. Make sure you ask Bones about that sometime. It's a good story how he got his name. He is revered as a god to an entire tribe in the Amazon." Murphy had a wicked smile on his face. Angela was definitely interested to hear the story. All in good time.

Angela flipped back the blanket on the carrier and revealed the little boy, who looked just like his mother.

"Oh my god... he's beautiful. They both are." She gushed at the sleeping boy, and smiled at the little girl. Payton was finally starting to trust the woman who held her, and a small smile crept on to her lips. She looked even more like Booth when she smiled. Angela realized that she was hooked and instantly in love with these kids.

She turned back to Murphy and he mouthed the words, 'Call Max' and he quietly and quickly went to the door and was gone, leaving Angela with the two little Booths.

She had Payton giggling like mad with tickles when Hodgins finally came through the door and approached the table. She noticed a very confused look on his face as he approached,

"Ange, I know we want kids but you can't just steal other peoples. I think it's frowned upon..."

She just smiled at him.

"Look at her Jack; does she look like anyone you know?"

She watched the man's face as it gained a comprehending look.

"Holy Crap! Are those...?" She nodded. "What are they doing here? Where's Doctor Brennan? And Booth?"

Angela shrugged her shoulders as he sat down on the other side of the table and stared at the little girl, who eventually gave him a smile that melted his heart. He was obviously hooked too.

"Murphy just dropped them off, they're being tailed by the Crew, and he asked if I would call Max to help us keep them safe. Sounds like something major is going down..."

Payton looked back up to the artist and said clearly,

"Where's mama?"

"I don't know Sweetheart. I don't know."

The little girl looked back to her again after looking at her little brother, who continued to sleep soundly.

"Where's daddy?"

Angela had no answer for her.

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_To be continued..._

_(not as fast as usual, but fast enough. I hope!) _


	2. Waiting for News

Chapter Two:

Angela stared across the table at the man who was staring at the little girl in her arms. He was dumbstruck and she needed to snap him out of it. They had a situation here that needed to be dealt with.

"Jack? What do we do?" He looked from the little girl to her.

"Maybe we should go back to the Jeffersonian? Call Max? Call the FBI? I don't know Ange!"

Angela made the move to stand up and balanced the girl on her hip. She gestured for Hodgins to take the baby carrier with Rio in it, and he grabbed it while she started towards the door. They moved quickly and stealthily towards her car, parked not far from the front door of the Diner. She stared in disbelief as she noticed that her keys were still in the ignition and the doors were locked.

She started to swear before she realized that there was a small set of ears very close to her. Hodgins suggested that they could take his car, and come back for hers later.

"Of all the days to drive one of your cars without a backseat in it." Angela couldn't help but laugh as they struggled to get everyone in the small Italian-made car.

Hodgins drove slowly and carefully back to the Jeffersonian. They discussed how to get a hold of Max, and Angela admitted that she had been in regular contact with him, but she didn't know where he was. She would call him as soon as they got safely back to the lab.

They walked through the front doors of the Medico-Legal lab, Payton in the arms of the artist, and Hodgins carrying the sleeping baby in the carrier. No one noticed them until they had actually gone up on to the platform. Angela swiped her card with her free hand, and then gave the card to the little girl, who had reached for it.

Hodgins set Rio down on the metal table and took a quick peek under the blanket to see if he was okay. He slept still. He looked back to Angela who was trying to get Payton to sit on one of the chairs by a micro-scope, but the little girl apparently had a mind of her own. She kept climbing off the chair and was finally convinced to sit still when Angela sat down and held the girl on her lap again. Payton looked scared by all the lab equipment around her and looked around at the gathering crowd of Jeffersonian employees with her big blue eyes.

Jack went over to them and knelt in front of the little girl, trying to keep her from crying. He made silly faces, and she looked at him with wonder.

"Hey Payton. Do you know who we are?"

The little girl still looked at him with big eyes. He noticed again her striking resemblance to her father.

"My name is Jack...and I work with bugs. Do you like bugs?"

Still no response. Angela took the opportunity to ask the crowd to back off; they were all freaking out the little girl. She heard the words 'Booth' and 'Brennan' buzzing through the people gathered; they had all figured out who these kids belonged to, but there was no sign of the parents.

Only Wendell remained on the platform. Everyone else moved back, but their eyes stayed on the three that remained and the two small children with them. Payton seemed much less distressed and even smiled a little bit at Wendell who joined Hodgins in trying to calm her by acting silly. She looked up to Angela and had such a familiar look on her face, that the artist couldn't help but grin at her. Now the little girl smiled.

"Payton?" Hodgins got her attention back, "This is Angie. I guess she is practically your Aunt, for all intents and purposes." He put his hand on Angela's knee trying to get her to understand who he was talking about.

The little girl looked up again to the artist, and in her little voice asked,

"Angie?"

Angela smiled again,

"That's right Sweetheart. Can you say Aunty Angie?"

Payton looked at her for a second and got a quirky little half-grin on her face. She wiggled her fingers at the woman and said,

"Fell-Angie." She giggled and moved her fingers again.

Wendell started to laugh first, followed shortly thereafter by Hodgins, who picked up on what Payton was trying to say. Angela looked questioningly at the men, who were now both laughing hysterically. Hodgins was the first to let her in on the joke made by the little girl.

"She just turned your name into phalange...We got a smart one here...not surprising...considering her parents..." His laughter picked up again and the three of them laughed until the little girl tried to get down from Angela's lap again.

"Where's daddy?" She asked it again, but no one had an answer for her.

Nobody knew.

The three of them stood talking and making plans about what to do. They sent one of the lab assistants to a store for some supplies. Murphy had only dropped off the kids, nothing else. Payton wandered around the platform, and Wendell kept close to her to make sure she was safe. It really wasn't a place for small children, but they all admitted that something major had to be happening for Booth and Brennan to leave their kids. They must have felt that they were in serious danger.

Angela left a message for Max with the messaging service through which she had contacted him before. They had kept in touch regularly while Booth and Brennan had been gone. Max was aware of his Grandkids existence, but he had never laid eyes on them. He wished for their return as much as anybody, and felt a kinship with Angela, based on their common feelings. He was going to be thrilled that they were back.

Angela knew that he would not be long in returning her message and they all waited, not so patiently, for something to become known to them.

Hodgins tried to contact Sully and Cullen at the FBI, but he was informed that they were both out in the field today, and couldn't be reached. Something was definitely going down. Deputy Director Cullen rarely did field work. All the Squints knew that.

After a while, Payton made her hunger known to everybody and they wondered what to feed the toddler. Wendell admitted that he had brought his own lunch, but he didn't think the little girl would enjoy the protein shake that was going to be his dinner. Angela and Hodgins had both planned on eating out before their plans were laid astray by the unexpected arrival of the kids.

Angela suddenly had an idea, and scooped up the little girl to go look for someone who would have something appropriate for her to eat. Someone who she knew brought the same thing for lunch every day. She hoped the man she was looking for hadn't had his lunch yet.

Hodgins and Wendell both leaned on the table speculating about what was happening to have brought the children to them when they heard the first stirrings of the baby under the blanket.

Wendell pulled the blanket back and the little boy was awake and starting to fuss. Hodgins picked him up and held him comfortably.

"Hey...you're pretty good at that man, I think he likes you..." Wendell was watching the process and was impressed by his co-workers ability to handle the baby.

"Just a little practice for when Ange and I have our own kids." He smiled at the baby, who was starting to discover that he was in unfamiliar territory. He started to cry a little bit.

"I may have spoken too soon..." Wendell smiled at Jack, who was trying to rock Rio gently to make him stop crying. It wasn't working.

Their attention was brought back to the stairs when they heard a pass card being swiped. Angela gave the card back to the little girl and was followed up the steps by Zack, who carried a warm plate of mac and cheese in his gloved hands.

"Hey man, glad to see your dietary habits haven't changed. You've just made a little girl very happy."

"Hi Doctor Hodgins. I am happy to share my lunch with her. Angela just explained to me what was going on, but there were some details left out. If Doctor Saroyan catches me up here, she's going to be very upset. She made it very clear that I am only allowed to perform my _janitorial_ tasks in the lab. I am not supposed to be up on the platform, or anywhere that evidence is being compiled." Zack tried to convince the others that he should go, but Angela held him by the arm and spoke to him carefully.

"Zack, we're not investigating a case right now. You know that Cam has to follow the conditions of your release. She's made a huge sacrifice to get you a job here, and we want to make sure you can be close to us. You know... to watch out for you. These are extraneous circumstances. You're the only one with experience with babies."

"You're right Angela. I do have a number of nieces and nephews, though it's been a while since I was close to any of them. They did seem to enjoy my presence." He leaned to close to Rio, who stopped crying long enough to look at the former grad-student with his big brown eyes.

Zack turned back to the others with a wrinkled nose.

"I think he needs to be changed."

Hodgins snorted out loud and smiled.

"Thanks Zack. I don't know how we would have figured that out without you...We don't have any diapers though."

The assistant they had sent out earlier for supplies had amazing timing and appeared at the bottom of the steps at that moment with two large bags under her arms. Wendell went down to relieve her of her burden with a huge thanks. She smiled at the young man as he took the bags and went back up the stairs. Many of the female workers in the lab had a huge crush on the man, but he seemed oblivious to them. Clark Edison and he had a long talk a while ago about how awkward workplace romances could be. Not that anyone else agreed, but Clark had made a good point.

Angela took Payton, and the dish of mac and cheese, with her towards Brennan's old office, which still sat empty, except for the basic furnishings. It had been renovated after the explosion and was waiting for its former occupant to return. Angela didn't think Booth would appreciate them feeding his daughter so close to where dead bodies were analyzed.

She left the boys to deal with changing the diaper. They claimed to know how to do it.

The changing proved to be quite a bit more confusing to the three brilliant minds then they had originally thought. Wendell held the small boy down while Hodgins removed the dirty diaper. Zack made the effort to put the new one on, but the squirming baby seemed to resist. Their concentration was disrupted by the sound of their boss' voice as she made her way up the stairs.

"Hey! I thought I said no experiments without permission. And Zack... you can't be up on the platform. I've told you why." She couldn't see exactly what they were doing; they were all huddled over something on the table.

As she approached she became aware of the moving object before them and she sucked in her breath in shock.

"Where the hell did you guys get a baby?"

Wendell moved aside for Cam to look over what they were trying to do, and Hodgins filled her in on what had happened at the Diner. How exactly they came to be in possession of the baby. She was shocked.

"This is Booth and Brennan's son?" Everyone nodded confirmation for her.

"If you look closely at his face, you can see a number of genetic similarities to Doctor Brennan. He has Agent Booth's eyes though." Zack pointed out the obvious.

"Thanks Zack. Seriously though... you can't be up on the platform. Just pretend you're mopping the floor down there, and then at least you can be involved in the conversation."

Zack smiled at the coroner and handed her the diaper they had been trying to affix to the baby. When he stepped back from the table and Cam stepped into his place, the cold air connecting with the baby's bare skin reacted in a way that resulted in an occurrence that commonly happens. The stream hit Cam squarely in the chest and she glared at Hodgins who was doing a very bad job of covering up his laughter.

She just sighed and had the fresh diaper on Rio in minutes. She put his clothes back on and left to find some new ones for herself. She had learned long ago to always have a fresh set of clothes in her office. This was by no means the worst thing she had ever been splashed with.

Angela joined the others back on the platform where they were all trying to get Rio to stop crying. She joked about how much Payton loved the food she had been provided with, and the artist was convinced that she had eaten it before.

Nothing seemed to help them calm the little boy. Angela sent Zack off to heat a bottle of milk in the microwave in their common staff room and took the baby from Hodgins. He still cried.

Even Payton seemed concerned by his crying, but eventually the drama of the day so far had a tiring effect on her and she fell asleep in Wendell's arms. He sat on one of the chairs and was afraid to move for fear of disturbing the little girl. They all laughed at his reaction, but he just smiled. He joked about being her gallant knight and protector.

The afternoon progressed with no word on the parents of the kids, or any word at all from the FBI. Everyone grew increasingly worried, but kept a happy facade for the kids. Rio continued to cry and they all surmised that he had likely never been separated from his parents in his short life. Everyone hoped they were safe, and back soon.

As afternoon grew into evening, the Squints were becoming very concerned about the lack of any word from anybody. They all decided that the lab was the safest place for Payton and Rio to be, and was the place most likely that their parents would come looking for them, so they all stayed put. Except for Zack. He had to be back in his residence by a certain time to obey one of the conditions of his release.

Despite the worry, the little girl had everyone in stitches of laughter at various points of time. She had successfully charmed every one of them into getting what she wanted. She was definitely her father's daughter. They all commented on it.

Later in the evening, after Payton had been laid down to sleep on the couch in her mother's office, with Wendell watching her closely, the rest of the Squints remained on the platform and still tried to calm Rio, who was becoming nearly hysterical with his crying.

He had finally almost fallen asleep when the alarm went off as someone proceeded up the stairs without swiping a card.

Three heads turned towards the man, and they recognized Sully. He apologized for setting off the alarm, he had forgotten his card, and was very sorry for setting the baby off crying. Cam asked him for an update on what was happening.

"I just stopped by to see if Booth or Tempe had come back yet. We lost them about an hour ago, and we were wondering if they showed up here? I lost my phone at some point, and I've been out of touch with everyone."

All of the heads shook 'no'.

"We've got two out of five of the Crew in custody, but the three others are still giving us chase. I was sure Booth made it out of the trouble he was in, but now we can't find them..."

His words were cryptic, and gave the Squints no answers. He turned quickly after giving the baby a thorough stare, and left without another word. He was running by the time he got to the doors.

The Squints were shocked. They still had no idea what was happening, but they focussed their efforts back on the crying baby. He would not be comforted by anything, as though he knew something was wrong.

Hours passed with still no word.

Rio had finally fallen asleep again, and everyone was afraid to make a movement or a sound for fear of him starting to cry again. He was in Angela's arms when they all started to nod their heads where they sat. Everyone was tired and stressed.

The alarm went off again startling everybody from their near sleep and they all looked towards the top of the stairs expecting to see Sully again, but they were shocked to see two familiar forms making their way up the steps. Rio screamed at the sound of the alarm.

One of the forms went to him and took him from Angela's arms and his crying stopped as though it had been turned off with a switch. His mother's familiar presence calmed him instantly.

The Squints stared at Booth and Brennan. They both looked like hell. They were filthy, like they had been in a battle of some kind, and they were both obviously exhausted. Booth was limping badly and Brennan had a cut on her forehead that had been bleeding, but looked like it had stopped now.

"I'm sorry you guys. I don't have my card anymore." Temperance looked apologetically at everyone while Cam went down and swiped her own card to stop the alarm.

Angela was the first one to break the silence with a cry. She grabbed Temperance in a hug that threatened to crush her and the little boy held tenderly in her arms.

"Where the hell have you guys been? We were so worried..."

Booth answered her in a very tired voice.

"We got them! We're home to stay..."

He leaned on the metal table, exhausted, and proved he was still the same old Booth when he looked around at everyone with his cocky smile,

"So... what's new with everybody?"

**

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TBC...

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_Just a note... the next chapter, and random chapters through-out this story, will be flashbacks of missing periods of time, explaining some of the major moments and events that occured while they were in hiding. _

_Thanks for reading... I have to admit I was amazed at the amount of story alerts after the first chapter...thanks...I hope not to dissapoint!_

_XO_


	3. The Joy in his life

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Booth rowed the small dinghy further away from the boat where they had left their daughter in the care of their two personal guards and the Doctor Hutchinson. They were anchored in a small bay, off of an uninhabited Cay, just Northeast of Belize. Booth had finally convinced Bones that they should take advantage of their daughter's nap time, and spend some time alone on the beach that they could see from the deck.

Booth had been slightly afraid that one of the two men was going to throw her overboard. She had been argumentative and snappy all morning, and the close quarters of the boat were making it difficult to get a moment alone for him to find out what was bothering her. Now she sat silently in the small boat, facing him as he rowed, but not saying anything. He had time to analyze his thoughts of the previous weeks.

They had sailed from Florida a week ago after he had spent an amazing week with his son. Parker had been thrilled to spend time with his new little sister, and Booth smiled at the memory. Dealing with Rebecca had been an entirely different matter... She still blamed Booth for the fact that her and Parker had been uprooted from their lives in D.C. and moved into hiding just on the outskirts of Miami. No matter how many times Booth tried to explain the serious nature of the threat made towards him, and everyone he loved, care of the Gravedigger's Crew, Rebecca wouldn't stop being mad at him.

Parker was an entirely different matter. He loved the ocean, and loved his new school, and was thrilled that his dad had come to stay with him, even though they had to use fake names and be very careful about where they went in public. Parker was aware of their situation, but his young mind made a game of it. He pretended that they were spies, and Booth went along with his son's imagination. The week had gone by too quickly, and it would be another month before he went back to see him again.

Now he dealt with a moody Bones, and he had an idea about what might be bothering her. Jeff and Doc had spoken to him the other day about the fact that they were thinking of leaving. Bones was completely healthy and Payton was thriving. Her premature birth had given them reason to keep the Doctor around for the last three months since her unexpected arrival, but now, the boat was becoming crowded, and tempers were flaring.

Jeff, one of the two Navy Seals who had been with them since their original escape from the hospital, had fallen madly in love with the Doctor Hutchinson, and Booth knew he would follow her no matter where she went. Their feelings were more than reciprocated by each other. He smiled at the thought of the two of them making doe eyes at one another over the last months.

Murphy had promised he was with them one hundred percent, and Booth knew that the two of them together could keep the ladies that he loved safe. Now, he needed to get one of the ladies he loved to open up a little about why she was in the temperament that she was.

He looked at her, sitting across from him, and noticed that her eyes were unfocused as she stared at the horizon. Her eyes matched the colour of the ocean that was so close to them and his heart nudged as he stared at them. She eventually sensed his gaze and looked to him. He smiled a very charming smile at her, and a small smile crept onto her lips, despite her inclination not to be taken in by his charm.

"What Booth? Why are you staring at me?" Her eyes had that look that melted him.

"Nothing. I was just admiring how beautiful you look today." He continued to smile at her.

She snorted in disbelief, and looked back to the water. Her eyes flashed towards him just briefly, and before she turned her face further away from him again, he saw the slight smile back on her lips. She was coming around.

He looked over his shoulder and saw that the shore was rapidly approaching, and when they were close enough, he stood up and jumped over the side of the dinghy to pull it the rest of the way onto the sand.

He reached for her hand to help her out of the small water craft, but she ignored it, and stepped out onto the sand by herself. He chuckled to himself.

He pulled the rubber boat the rest of the way out of the water and looked back towards the boat from which they had left anchored in the deeper water. He saw one of the men dive overboard. Probably Murphy. That man did love to swim. He was a perfect Navy Seal, and Booth and he had developed a close friendship, despite their differing opinions on which was the better branch of the military. Everyone else was greatly amused by their friendly arguments and bantering.

Booth looked back towards Bones and watched her as she kicked off her sandals and started to walk up the long, white-sanded beach. She really was beautiful, and he still felt so grateful that she was here with him. So many events had transpired in the last year to tear them apart, but he felt they were only growing closer together. Now, if only he could get her to open up about what was making her so snappy over the last couple of days. He was confident he would succeed.

He walked along behind her after pulling the bag he had packed out of the dinghy and throwing it over his shoulder. The blanket and the bottle of wine jostled on his back as he ran to catch up with her. He grabbed her hand as she walked and he felt her squeeze his fingers, but she didn't say anything.

They strolled along the beach, hand-in-hand, in silence, until they reached the end of the sand and some large rocks blocked the way. She sat down on one of the rocks and he set the bag down and pulled out two towels, the bottle of wine, two glasses and the blanket.

He sat down next to her and kissed her gently on the temple before he opened the bottle and poured two glasses and handed one of them to her. She reached the glass back to him to clink them together and then she took a sip and sighed.

"This is really nice Booth. It was a good idea." She already looked more relaxed.

He took a sip out of his own glass and leaned over to her to kiss her gently on the neck. He blew softly across her ear and he saw the goose-bumps form on her bare arm. He smiled.

"Why did you bring towels? If you plan on going swimming, I didn't bring my bathing suit..." Her voice sounded soft, and her hard exterior faded away a little more.

He kissed her neck again; his soft lips sent shudders down her spine. He pulled back to look at her and her eyes had that intense, loving look again.

"Well, Bones, I had an idea. I'm going to jump to a conclusion here; even though you tell me not too, and assume that you have never been skinny dipping. I think this could be another lesson in how to be 'bad'."

"You're right. I never have been. I never saw the point to it." She looked as though she was going to object, but he stood up and grabbed her hand.

He set his glass down in the sand, and took hers to set it next to his. He took both of her hands and looked her in the eyes.

"It's a chance to express your frivolity and puckishness in the company of someone who loves you. We can consider it a life lesson if you want..." His smile was radiant in the sun.

"Well, if it's a learning experience, then how can I say no?" Her smile matched his. She took off her sunglasses and tossed them towards the blanket on the sand.

He stepped back and pulled his t-shirt over his head, and felt her fingers run across his abdomen before he completely removed the article of clothing and tossed it away.

He felt her hands start to push his shorts down and he stepped back further to do it himself. She just watched him and smiled wickedly at him.

"What Bones? It's not as though it's anything you haven't seen before! And this is really only effective if we're both naked..." He reached for her and grabbed the hem of her light shirt and pulled it upwards over her head. She raised her arms to help him.

When her shirt was off, he took a second to kiss her hard on the mouth, and trailed a few kisses down her neck while his hand ran up and down her bare back. Then, he turned and ran for the water while she completely disrobed and joined him in the cool, salty ocean.

They swam for a little while, and after he splashed her in the face with water, a water fight broke out that threatened to drown them both. Their laughter could have been heard, if there had been anyone nearby to hear it.

Eventually they just floated in each other's arms, enjoying the tranquility and bliss of the moment. If they had been paying attention to anything except for each other, they might have noticed the man sneaking towards their belongings that had been tossed on the sand.

Bones was the first to notice him and she cried out. Booth let go of her, when he looked in the direction of her glare and saw Murphy picking up their clothes and running off down the beach.

He ran out of the water after him, but Murphy had a head start and he had grabbed the bag that Booth had brought and was packing their clothes into it as he ran. His hysterical laughter could be heard until he ran back into the water, further down the beach and started to swim back towards the boat with powerful strokes.

Booth stood on the sand, dripping wet and gave up on the chase. He knew he couldn't catch him once Murphy was in the water. The man was a natural swimmer.

Bones had gotten out of the water and had made her way back to the blanket when Booth finally got back to her. She looked pissed, and embarrassed, but he calmed her quickly when he stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay Bones. We don't need clothes right now anyway." He looked in her eyes with a very suggestive look on his face.

Her anger faded and she kissed him gently on the lips. They felt cool from the ocean, as did the rest of his skin when she ran her hands up his back and back down again.

"You know... we haven't done this since Payton was born. It's been three months..." His voice sounded husky as he kissed her neck.

"I know Booth. It's just that with so many people on the boat, and when I'm with you, I don't have a lot of inhibitions, it just seemed awkward..." She was cut off when his kisses made their way back to her lips.

"Is that what's been bothering you the last couple of days?" He asked her when they both had to stop to catch their breath.

She nodded and his heart skipped a beat with the look on her face. He smiled at her with all the love in his heart,

"This is something I can help you with..."

No more discussion occurred when they lay down on the blanket and made love right there on the beach. Laws of Physics were defied. Time was passed passionately.

They lay together on the blanket afterwards and talked about the probability that Jeff and the Doctor would be leaving them soon. They both agreed that it was probably for the best. Booth and Murphy would take care of them all.

They finally got up and Bones wrapped herself in the blanket, while Booth wrapped himself in one of the remaining towels and gathered up the bottle of wine and the glasses. He emptied the glasses on the sand when she said she didn't feel like any more wine, and that they should probably get back to the boat. Payton would probably be waking up soon, and she would need to be fed.

As they climbed back up on the boat from the dinghy, Bones gave Murphy an evil glare as she made her way below deck to get dressed. The Navy Seal, and petty thief, tossed Booth his shorts and couldn't help his laughter. He was pretty proud of himself.

Booth waited until Bones was below deck and he went to Murphy and patted the man on the back.

"Thanks for your help man. That was exactly what we needed..." Murphy smiled at him.

"Did you figure out what was wrong with her?"

Booth sat on one of the deck chairs and looked back to his friend with a straight face.

"Yup."

"Did you solve the problem?" Murphy continued to smile knowingly. Booth now smiled too.

"Yup."

XOXOXOOXOXOOXOXOOXOOXOXOOXOXOOXOXOOXOOXOXOOXOOXOXOOXOOXOOXOXOOXOOXOXO

_**Six Weeks later...**_

Booth woke up in the bed alone. He looked over to the bassinet on the other side of the small room and saw his daughter sleeping soundly. He wondered where Bones was. He listened, but heard no sign of her. He threw on a pair of shorts and made his way to the upper deck to see where she might have gone.

She was at the railing, leaning over the side, and he wondered what she was doing. He approached her just as another wave of heaving overtook her.

"Bones? What's wrong?" As he asked the question, something dawned on him...he had only seen her sick like this once before.

She looked to him with a positively green pallor and tried to smile.

"Murphy is in the bathroom, and I was about to be sick."

"Are you okay?"

"It's nothing that another eight months or so won't take care of..."

He stood there shocked.

"You're pregnant?"

"It would seem as though...Are you happy?" She seemed genuinely concerned about what his reaction would be.

"Of course I am. Just a little surprised." He went to her side and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "Does Murphy know yet that there's going to be another someone to protect until we can get this Gravedigger mess sorted out?"

A voice was heard from behind them.

"He does now!" Murphy went to the two and hugged them both with an intensity that surprised them. "Congratulations you guys. It's a good thing that Claire and Jeff are gone, because we would have needed a bigger boat!"

Booth smiled at Bones and pressed his hand gently to her abdomen.

"Are you happy?" He also really needed to know.

"Happy, but nervous..." She wondered ever so slightly about bringing another life into the crazy one they shared.

They all heard Payton start to cry from below deck and Murphy went to get her, giving the partners a moment to themselves. Booth looked at her with his expressive brown eyes,

"Marry me Temperance."

She put her hands on his waist, and stared into the depths of his soul through those eyes.

She was silent for so long, that he wondered what she was thinking.

"I promise you Booth, that when our lives return to normal... I will marry you."

He smiled and kissed her again. That was an acceptable answer.

He wondered what normal really was.

**

**

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_I feel I should share... this was originally going to be the epilogue to 'What may come to pass', but I really felt that this chapter felt like more of a beginning than an end.[ ;) ], hence, the 'flashback'. Hope you enjoyed._

_XO_


	4. Reunions

**

**

When Brennan finally managed to get Angela to release her grip from the hug, she just stood back and looked at her friend. Her eyes eventually trailed around the platform to take in Hodgins and Cam who were all smiling at her. She smiled back.

No one knew where to start with the questions. There was so much that everyone wanted to know, but where to begin?

Brennan eventually broke the silence.

"Where's Payton?"

"She's asleep in your office. Wendell is watching her. Last time we checked, they were both sound asleep."

Brennan looked surprised.

"I still have an office here? I would have thought you had filled my position by now. We have been gone almost two years." Booth snickered behind her. She ignored him.

"You know we could never replace you Doctor Brennan. We tried to muddle through as best we could while you were off. I'm pretty sure you actually still have some vacation time accrued." Booth laughed again at Cam's response. This time he was awarded with a mock angry glare from his partner.

"Whenever you feel ready to return, we are ready for you." Cam smiled this time, letting the forensic anthropologist she was, in fact, happy to see her back. "So, what happened today? Is everything okay? Sully was here earlier looking for you guys, he said you all got separated?"

Booth and Bones looked at each other. She walked over to lean on the table next to him, and he leaned down and kissed the baby in her arms.

"Hey buddy! Did you miss us today?" He looked around to see everyone nodding. He had very neatly changed the subject "He's kind of a momma's boy. He pretty much just cries when she's not around."

This time Hodgins laughed.

"That's pretty much what he did all day. We did our best, Payton settled right in with us, but little Rio there..."

Brennan smiled and kissed her son on the forehead. She handed him over to Booth, and all the Squints finally saw the little boy smile. It was good to see.

"I'm just going to check on Payton, make sure she's okay." She left the platform, and walked the familiar route to her office.

Booth continued to lean on the table with his son in his arms. He sighed and reminded everyone just how exhausted he looked.

Angela went over to him and touched his arm.

"Is everything okay? Is the Crew taken care of? Are you guys really home to stay?"

"I think so. We have three of them in custody, and the other two didn't make it. Cullen called me a few minutes ago." He looked almost sad, but he said nothing else.

Everyone turned towards the door of the lab when they heard it open and the voices of two men echoed through the nearly empty lab. Sully and Deputy Director Cullen came through the door and saw the people gathered on the platform and headed in that direction. Cam met them at the bottom of the stairs. She had heard the alarm go off enough that day.

"Agent Booth! We were concerned. Sully told us he saw the car with you and Doctor Brennan go into that ravine, and then we couldn't find you!" Cullen reached his hand out to shake, and Booth shifted the baby in his arms to reach out to his boss.

"Yeah, we made it out. Caught a ride with a couple of strangers back into D.C., and came right back here."

Everyone wanted to hear more, but the man stopped there.

"I'll have a report written for you as soon as I can."

"Don't worry about that Agent Booth. Take your time settling back in okay? Take a week, and we'll get you settled back in with the FBI. Go be with your family." Cullen smiled at the man and he turned to Sully, who had been staring at the baby in Booth's arms, apparently lost in thought.

"Agent Sullivan?" Sully focused back on the man who was speaking, "I am going to go book our friends who are waiting outside with Mr. Murphy."

Booth laughed, but the action only made him look more tired. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to grow deeper.

"You left them alone with Murphy?" For the first time that he could remember, Booth saw his Boss with an evil grin.

"Yes, I did. I should probably go stop him before he kills them though. I told him to try not to leave any obvious marks." Cullen turned and left down the stairs.

Booth turned to Sully as the distinguished FBI man made his exit from the lab.

"Thanks for everything Sully. We owe you."

"It was no problem Booth. I would do anything for you guys." His face remained still at first, but then a smile crept onto it. Everyone thought it seemed a little forced, but the two men shook hands and after that Booth patted his shoulder with an open hand.

"Sorry about your boat. We'll get you a new one if you want."

"No worries man. I think it's time for a new adventure anyway. The boat had more than a few miles on it."

The Squints all looked at each other. There were definitely some blanks that needed to be filled in. If Booth and Brennan were back to stay, there would be plenty of time to catch up. Booth looked ready to fall over.

The attention of everyone once again went to the main door of the lab as it opened, and the tall, blonde, well-tanned Navy Seal walked through it. He looked up to the platform and his pace quickened. Booth handed Rio off to Angela and rushed down the stairs to greet his friend.

Murphy grabbed Booth in a huge guy hug and practically lifted him off the floor he was so happy to see him.

Angela laughed out loud in surprise. She went to Hodgins' side and spoke quietly to him,

"Did Booth really just hug another man? He's come a long way in two years with expressing his feelings don't you think?" The two of them laughed at her comment. Rio started to cry in her arms, and she bounced him gently to try to calm him, in what had already become a natural reaction for her.

Cam tossed Booth her card over the railing so he could let Murphy and himself up the stairs. Murphy kept his arm around Booth's shoulders and said something to him quietly in his ear as they walked up the stairs. Booth smiled. Whatever was said, the FBI Agent seemed a lot more relaxed.

Murphy noticed Rio in Angela's arms and took him from the woman. He bounced the baby high into the air, and to everyone's, except Booth, surprise, the little boy stopped crying, and actually giggled. The baby obviously knew this man well.

"What's the matter buddy? Did you miss me?" Murphy smiled to Booth as he kissed the baby on the head.

"He missed his parents today. Did he really cry a lot?" Booth's question was directed at Angela, and she nodded in response.

"We were all worried about you guys. I think he picked up on that. He seems very intuitive." Angela tweaked the chin of the little boy who had been her charge all day. She was convinced she was ready for one of her own.

"Thank you Angela. We really appreciate you taking care of them on such short notice. We knew we could trust you." Booth reached to give Angela a hug. She accepted it with tears in her eyes. Happy tears, to see her friends were safe.

Booth addressed everyone,

"Thank you all. We owe you all so much."

A common 'you're welcome' was murmured by everyone and the sound of card being swiped distracted everyone from the near-emotional moment.

Brennan walked up the stairs with a very smiley Payton in her arms. She had noticed her father and struggled to get down from her mother's arms. The little girl ran to Booth and he picked her up with a huge smile.

"Hey mini-me! How are you? I missed you so much." The little girl put her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Bones smiled warmly at them.

"You should have seen her in there, it was so cute...she was awake and just holding Wendell's hand...He's still sound asleep. I think she likes him!"

"Home?" Payton lifted her head to ask her father.

"Yeah, baby. Let's go home." He looked at Bones and she nodded in agreement. He noticed how tired she looked.

"Booth, where do we go?"

"Your place or mine?" He smiled a smile that no one had seen before. It looked like a smile of true contentment. She smiled back to him.

"I guess my place would be better. It had quite a lot more room for the kids, and a spare room for Murphy."

The two seemed to be digressing into their own conversation, and Murphy, who had seen this happen a hundred times, decided to remind them that they were not alone anymore.

"If it's okay with you guys, I think I'll find a hotel room for the night, and let you guys have some time to yourselves. I think you need it." Murphy smiled at the two, and handed Rio back to his mother. "I've been a fifth wheel long enough. That is...if you two can stay out of trouble for one night."

The partners looked at each other. Their loving expressions were mirrored by each other. Everyone noticed.

Sully spoke up then. He had been watching the interaction between the family in silence, but now he had a suggestion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two sets of keys. He tossed one to Booth and one to Murphy. Both men caught the tossed objects with ease and laughed at each other.

"Those are the keys to your apartment Booth, and those are the keys to Tempe's place. Cullen had me keep an eye on them while you were gone. Everything should be fine and ready to go for you guys. I thought Murphy could stay in your old apartment. Might as well...it's sat empty long enough."

After placing Rio carefully in his carrier, Brennan went to Sully to give him a hug.

"Thank you so much. We owe you everything." Her eyes expressed her true thanks to the man who had been responsible for keeping them safe for the last two years.

"You're welcome Tempe. I'm glad you're back. Welcome home."

Booth carried his nearly-sleeping daughter closer to the top of the stairs in a motion to leave, and turned back suddenly to the Squints.

"Uh, can we borrow someone's car? Ours is somewhere in a ditch."

Cam agreed to lend then her car and Booth promised to have it back to her the next day. Angela gathered up everything they had bought earlier that day to take care of the kids and offered to help Brennan tote everything to the car.

The family made a quick exit, leaving the other's stunned at what had transpired. They were back, and full of mystery.

Murphy turned to the Squints left on the platform.

"Does anyone know how to get to Booth's place?"

Sully volunteered to drop him off.

The two men made their departure and left the Squints to gossip amongst themselves as to what had gone down that day. Their questions would need to be answered by the people involved, but there would be time enough for that.

**

Booth and Bones didn't say much on the way back to her apartment. She drove, while he held their daughter carefully on his lap, underneath the seatbelt. Rio was belted in the backseat in his carrier. Booth's knee was bothering him, from their accident earlier that evening, and he knew that he would have trouble driving Cam's car, which was a manual transmission. Bones didn't argue, only took the keys from him with a smile.

They carried their kids up the stairs, his limping seemed to get worse, and finally, they opened the front door and went in to the one place she had called home for so many years.

"It seems strange here. I've been gone so long..." She set Rio down on the living room floor and looked around. "It's not even remotely child proofed... we have nothing for the kids here."

"We'll go tomorrow and get set up, we'll figure out something for tonight. I think I need to sit before I fall down." He kissed her gently on the lips and headed for the couch.

He set Payton down on the floor and she immediately went to one of the statues on a shelf and picked it up. He jumped up after her and grabbed it from her hand and set it up on a higher shelf with a smile. Brennan watched with amusement.

"I told you Booth, we left so quickly from the hospital the first time that I had no time to pick up any baby supplies..."

"No kidding Bones. We have some adjustments to make here, that's for sure."

She offered to go get the supplies from the car that Angela had given them and he told her to be careful. The fears of the last years had been deeply imbedded in his subconscious and they had not departed even though they were home, and apparently safe.

She had only been gone about a minute when he heard a quiet knocking on the door. He picked up Payton, to keep her from picking up another strange non-child oriented object and went to the door. He opened it without looking through the peep-hole, assuming it was Bones, and she had forgotten her key.

He was surprised to see a man standing there, and even more surprised when the man lunged at him. He jumped back quickly, but Max still caught him with a huge hug.

"You guys are back!! I wanted to see my grandkids before you all went to sleep. I hope you don't mind me dropping by, Angela told me you had come here!"

"No... We're back! Come on in...Bones just went down to the car to get some stuff. She'll be right back."

Max took Payton from his arms and looked her over carefully. She looked at him with the same appraising stare, and when he smiled broadly at her, she returned the smile. The bond was made. He kept her in his arms as he went to look closer at the sleeping baby boy. He awed out loud and Booth smiled. Max turned back to him.

"So, when are you going to marry my daughter? Make an honest woman of her..."

Booth was at a loss for words for a few seconds, and then he smiled at the man.

"Well Max. I've asked her three times now, and she has said yes every time, but I don't want to pressure her. It's something that we'll do when she feels ready. Not before."

"Well, maybe if I pressured her that would help..."

His words were cut off by the sound of the key in the door and Bones came through carrying the bags she had gone to get. Booth met her and relieved her of her burden as she noticed her Father crouched over her son, with her daughter in his arms.

"DAD!" She went to him quickly and gave him a huge hug, squishing Payton to his chest.

They just held each other for awhile without speaking. He spoke first,

"Your kids are beautiful Tempe, nicely done. The boy looks so much like you did when you were a baby."

"Thank you Dad. They are beautiful, and Payton is so smart. She's way ahead of where the books say she should be in terms of vocabulary and physical markers. You really have to watch what you say in front of her. She repeats everything." She looked proudly at her daughter as the little girl continued to stare at Max.

"What's his name? I don't even know my Grandson's name you guys were gone so long."

She snorted.

"You were gone for fifteen years; we were only gone for two, with a brief stop back in DC when Payton was born..."

"I know Sweetheart, like Father like daughter right!" He looked from Payton to Booth and smiled at them both.

"His name is Rio." Booth answered the question.

Max seemed surprised,

"How did you two come up with that name? It seems different..."

"We'll tell you all our stories in a few minutes, let us get the kids settled and we'll fill you in." Booth picked up Rio from the carrier and took him with a fresh set of clothes and a diaper to the bedroom. Temperance followed him with Payton and the same supplies.

Max sat on the chair in the living room and relished in the feelings of joy that his family was back in town. He had truly missed his daughter and had some insight into their relationship after he had been gone so long. He would make up for that now. He wasn't going anywhere, and he hoped that they weren't either.

Booth came back into the living room first and sat down on the couch with a bottle for his son. As he fed the baby, he and Max talked about a few of the things that had happened over the past two years. Especially the last eighteen months since Payton had been born.

Booth was in the middle of a story when Bones came back into the room and sat down next to her partner. She leaned her head on his shoulder, as Payton made her escape from her mother's arms to approach Max.

He picked her up and made her giggle with kisses and tickles and when he looked back over to the couch, the two of them sitting there had already fallen asleep. He picked up Rio and put him in the carrier, thinking that would be safe place for him to sleep for the night. He covered the couple with blanket and smiled at how peaceful they looked together. Payton seemed quite awake and he settled in to entertain her until she fell asleep. Her parents were obviously exhausted.

Bones woke up at some point, and took a minute to remember where she was. She felt the familiar presence of Booth beside her and remembered that they were home. She heard something familiar from across the room, and she gently opened one eye to see where the sounds were coming from.

Max was sitting on the chair with Payton in his arms. He was singing to try to get her to fall asleep. The words seemed familiar to Temperance and she smiled at the memory.

"_...and I've been drinking now...Just a little too much_

_And I don't know how I can get in touch with you..._

_Now, there's only one thing for me to do... that's to_

_To get home to you..."_

Temperance couldn't remember the last time she had felt so safe, and warm and loved. She felt Booth take her hand under the blanket and she heard the last words of Max's song before she fell back asleep.

"_Oh yes, I'll keep on trying_

_I'm tired of crying_

_I got to find a way..._

_To get home to you"_

She heard her daughter's little voice as she drifted back to sleep,

"Again Grandpa!"

When she and Booth awoke in the morning, they heard sounds from the kitchen. Booth went to see what was going on as Bones took their son out of his temporary bed with a smile. It hadn't been a dream. They were really home.

Max came back into the living room and smiled at his daughter and her son. He set a cup of coffee for her on the table.

"Okay Tempe... time to tell the story of his name..."

She smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down.

"Well, we were in the waters off of Northern Brazil, when we received a call from the FBI. They needed us to find a scientist who had been missing in the Amazon. Apparently a family member had died and they needed to find him, and we were not that far away, so they asked us for our help. I was almost nine months pregnant and....."

**

**

TBC...

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_*clap-clap-clap* A special shout out to 'Poco' and their beautiful song..'keep on trying'!!_


	5. That Night, When Rio was born

**

_A/N:_

_So... my insomnia has become your reward. This chapter took me FoR EVeR to write. I've never had such a hard time putting what I could see in my mind's eye into words. I really believe this is as close as I could get it and I really really hope it's not as dissapointing as I fear it might be. Enjoy as best you can, maybe I'm just really tired and harder on myself than I need to be, here is my best effort. Cheers! _

_PS. please pardon my spanish...it's very rusty and I hope that I don't offend anyone if I have misused words. Gracias._

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**The night of Rio's birth...**

Murphy came down the short set of steps from above deck to let the two know what the FBI said to him. He placed the satellite phone on the table and sat down next to Booth. He looked at them before he spoke. Brennan grew impatient.

"So, what did they say? Did you let Cullen know that we need to come home? With Payton walking now, I don't think this boat is the safest place to be anymore. And I definitely want this baby to be born in a hospital." She rubbed her expanded stomach and Booth smiled at the gesture.

"Well, he said he would make the arrangements, but he recommends against it. He doesn't think they are ready to move against the Crew, and he's worried that they will attack if you guys come back to the city right now. He asked us for a favour though..."

Booth and Bones both wondered what the FBI Deputy Director could possibly need from them. They were in the waters of South America, not really in the Jurisdiction of the FBI. They both looked at Murphy to continue.

"Well, okay, I guess there is this anthropologist staying with one of the tribes in the Amazon. He's worked for the FBI in the past as a consultant, but he hasn't made contact with them in a while. Apparently his father passed away and his family is desperate to find him to let him know. He asked if we might be willing to go find the guy. So... he last reported in from ah, the city of..." Murphy pulled a small notepad out of his pocket to confirm the information, "Manaus. It's about fifty nautical miles from where we are right now according to the GPS. I told Cullen that I would talk to you guys and see what you thought."

He waited while the two mulled over their thoughts. They stared at each other.

"What do you think Bones? Want to go on an Amazonian adventure? One last hurrah before we settle firmly into parenthood."

She sighed.

"Not really, but if we do this will Cullen agree to bring us back to D.C?" She asked her question of Murphy.

"He doesn't think it's safe yet, but if you really want to go, we will do everything we can to protect you." A rare moment, Murphy was deadly serious.

"I really want to go back. I think our kids deserve a normal upbringing don't you?" She now looked at Booth, who had a half smile on his face.

"Yeah, Bones. I agree with you there, but if our lives are still in danger, should we risk it?"

She stared at him for awhile with thoughtful eyes before replying.

"With you two big alpha males protecting us, how can anything go wrong?" Booth and Murphy both laughed at her intended compliment.

"Do you remember how close Heather Taffet got to taking me out before? If it wasn't for Perotta, I would be dead right now, and this little guy wouldn't exist." He leaned over to rub her stomach.

"You can't know if it's a boy Booth. It might be another girl."

"I know. But I really think it's a boy. Call it a gut-feeling!" She actually laughed a little at him.

"So, who is this anthropologist we're supposed to find?"

Murphy picked up his notepad again and scanned his scribblings.

"It's Doctor Franklin Michaels."

"Hey, I know him. He's a much acclaimed author and considered the leading expert in non-contacted Amazonian tribes. He's the only one to return from meeting them. Usually people just disappear into the forest, never to be heard from again."

"So, Cullen thinks that this is safer than returning to DC? What are we waiting for?" Murphy laughed out loud at Booth's snarky comment.

"I'll let Cullen know we'll do it then?" He started to get up and picked up the satellite phone from the table. Booth and Bones both nodded to the man.

"Tell him we'll trade him for our return to DC." Booth moved closer to his partner and took her hand.

"Are you sure about this Bones? It could be dangerous. We don't have to help."

"No, if something happened to my father, I would want to know about it. We can help here. And besides, danger is my last name."

Booth laughed at her.

"The saying goes, danger is my middle name!"

"Well, I was close wasn't I?" She smiled a smile that always made him fall just a little bit harder for her.

"You were very close." He leaned over her huge stomach and kissed her.

They both heard the thump come from the bedroom, followed by the cry of their daughter. Booth kissed her quickly again, and got up from the table.

"Looks like our little escape artist got out of her crib again... I'll go get her."

"This is why we can't live much longer on this boat. She's going to get up on the deck by herself and fall overboard."

"That won't happen Bones. Trust me, but I agree it's time to go home and face the music."

"What music?" She looked slightly confused.

He just waved his hand at her in gesture for her to forget about it. Payton was still crying from the room and he went in to get her.

Murphy came back down the stairs at the same time as Booth carried their crying daughter out of the room. Her sobs were slowing, and her big blue eyes were still tear-stained.

Murphy reached out to her, but she turned her head and tucked it into her father's neck. Booth laughed at her reaction.

"Ha-ha... she still likes me better, no matter how much you spoil her when I'm not looking."

"Yeah, well, I bet you fifty bucks that I have her saying my name by the end of the week."

"You're on." He sat down with Payton on his lap. She continued to cuddle up to him.

"Booth, you really shouldn't be betting you know. You are a recovering gambling addict, you might have a relapse."

He just smiled. He knew she was right, even though the wager had been a friendly one, he reneged on the bet. He looked down at his daughter and said,

"Hey Payton, can you say Uncle Murphy?"

The little girl smiled and said right back,

"No...Daddy!"

"That's right! HA-ha smart girl!" He looked at Murphy with a smug grin, who laughed hysterically at the little girl.

"Good luck with her as a teenager man, she's going to be a charmer." Murphy ruffled her dark brown hair, which was starting to curl a little it was getting so long.

"I already fear for the boys who come calling..." Booth had a very faraway look in his eye.

Everyone laughed at that one.

Murphy pulled out his notepad and they started to make plans on how they were going to find the missing man with help from Cullen. He had told Murphy that he would set them up with a guide who would meet them in the harbour of Manaus with further instructions.

**

Mid-morning, the next day, they sailed into the main Marina of the city. Booth stood on the deck, while Murphy steered the boat carefully amongst the others, and watched for the man they were supposed to meet. He only had a vague physical description of their guide, but he figured the man would find them, if they didn't find him first.

It wasn't long before a man caught his eye and waved. Murphy docked the boat and the man quickly embarked. He shook the hands of both of the men and spoke to them with heavily accented English.

"Hello. I am supposed to take you to the river that leads to the village that you look for. My name is Miguel, good to meet you.

The man seemed trustworthy enough and volunteered no more information to the men, but gestured that they should make ready to leave. He told them they could be there before sundown, if they left right away. He sat on the deck while Booth and Murphy steered the boat back out into the open ocean and gave them directions to the river branch that they were looking for.

When dinner time came around they invited the man down to the galley for something to eat, but he declined, saying that he preferred to stay on the deck. They let him steer the boat and returned shortly thereafter to find that the man hadn't moved. They were getting close to where they had to turn up the river that they were looking for.

When they found the waterway, which was exactly the distance Miguel said it would be, they turned upriver and Miguel told them to follow the river for ten miles and look for a village on the left. He then curled up on the deck and fell into a fast sleep.

Booth and Murphy had kept their comments quiet while the man was awake, but now they laughed at his antics. He was a unique individual that was for sure.

As the sun was starting to set, Booth thought he spied the village they were looking for and went to wake up Miguel, but found the man was already awake. As though he knew exactly how long it would take them to get there.

They docked next to a large primitive dock, and Miguel told them that they would meet some villagers in the morning who would take them by dug-out canoe to the actual village where the Anthropologist they were looking for was thought to be.

He wished them good night as they made their way below deck to spend the night preparing for their journey. Miguel promised that he would watch for any bad news.

Murphy laughed at the words he used.

The morning came quickly, and Booth and Bones decided, even though Murphy argued with them, that Payton would stay on the boat with the Navy Seal. The rainforest was not a place for the little girl. Bones went into a descriptive rant about the size of the poisonous spiders and snakes and frogs that lingered in the bush, and Murphy finally agreed that it would be best if he stayed. He wouldn't admit to them that he was terribly afraid of spiders.

He also warned them that he would be in a lot of trouble if anything happened to them, and that they should be as careful as possible.

Booth waved off his concern telling him that they would be back that evening and what could possibly go wrong? He then laughed nervously; hoping no one else picked up on his feelings. Nothing would go wrong.

Miguel smiled at Temperance when she came to the deck, ready to head into the smaller village. He pointed to her stomach,

"Not much longer?"

"No, not much longer. Three more weeks."

He helped her off the boat and her and Booth waited while the three villagers accompanying them got the large dug-out canoes ready for them. He settled into the middle of one and Bones sat between his legs and made herself as comfortable as possible.

Their guides had long poles which they used to manoeuvre the boats upstream. Miguel told them it would only be about a three hour trip.

Temperance leaned back to Booth at one point and asked him,

"Do you think they would let me use the poles to steer the canoe? I think I would be very good at it." He laughed at her.

"I believe you Bones, but I don't think they would be willing. I'm pretty sure that Murphy threatened Miguel that if anything happened to us, he was a dead man."

The hours, and the trip, passed quickly and some village natives waved to them from the shore. They spoke to Miguel for awhile as the guides steered the boats to the shore. The natives pointed to the sky and then upstream and gestured wildly.

"What are they saying?" Booth asked their main guide, with just a touch of concern in his voice.

"They say it is going to rain soon. Very much. They think the river will flood."

"So...what do we do?"

"We plan to stay the night. The river won't be safe when the water is high."

"Great." Booth muttered as he helped Bones out of the boat and onto the bank of the river.

"Hey!" A voice came through the trees and an older white-haired man came down one of the paths. He smiled at the partners.

"What brings you to these parts? We don't get many visitors up here!" He reached out to shake Booth's hand and Booth looked at him with compassionate eyes.

"Doctor Michaels, I'm afraid we come with bad news. Your father passed away, and the FBI was appointed to help find you and let you know. We were in the neighbourhood, so to speak."

The older man looked down at the ground, and looked back up with a sad face.

"He had been ill. This is not unexpected."

"We're very sorry for your loss, Doctor Michaels." Bones joined the conversation, and the man looked at her carefully.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?"

"We presented at the same lecture at Northwestern University a number of years ago. Perhaps you remember me from that?"

"Doctor Brennan?"

"Yes."

"Wow. The FBI sent the big guns to look for me. It's nice to see you again."

"It's good to see you as well. You do amazing work. This is my special friend, Agent Seeley Booth... I mean... my friend and partner Special Agent Seeley Booth."

Booth laughed at her slip-up while greeting the man. He wondered if the heat and humidity was affecting her.

"If you want to head back to the United States, you are welcome to come with us." Booth said, as the man guided them further up the path.

Doctor Michaels was silent for a minute while he considered his answer.

"I am afraid I have to decline. I have made amazing progress in making first contact with a tribe that live a four days hike from here. I have been trying to make contact for two years, and they have finally agreed to let me visit. If I left now, it would erase three years of my work. I hope you understand."

"I understand." Bones let him know that his answer made sense.

"The villagers would be honoured if you would share a meal with us before you have to head back. I'm sorry that your trip was in vain, but I appreciate you making the effort to pass along the message to me." One of the women of the tribe had spoken to the Doctor for a brief moment and he passed the message along.

"They would definitely be honoured to share a meal with you."

At that moment, the rain began. A torrential downpour that appeared from the sky that had seemed normal only moments before. Booth and Bones followed the other English speaking man into a hut to escape the downpour.

They were guided to a raised bench where they sat and caught up on all the information that they could share with each other. A few of the women brought each of them a plate of food, which they all accepted gratefully. They heard the rain pouring outside and a leak had sprung in the thatched roof. Temperance had the bad timing to look up to see where the leak was as a snake fell from the rafters and landed on her face.

She freaked out; ration and logic escaped her as she screamed. Booth grabbed the snake and tossed it out the front door, and rushed back to her side

"It's okay Bones! It was only a little snake... It's okay now..." Her terror filled eyes slowly returned to normal, but the expression didn't last long.

She grabbed her side and cried out.

Booth shut his eyes. He hoped what he thought just happened wasn't true. This was not the time or place for what he hoped wasn't happening.

Doctor Michaels caught on that something had just gone down.

"Is it the baby? Is it time?" The older man approached from her side and rested his hand on her back.

"I don't know... It might have been a cramp. Nothing major." She stood up straight and tried to shrug off the men who were hovering over her.

They all sat back down and waited to see what happened. The rain continued to pour. About ten minutes later, Booth's fear was confirmed as an obvious contraction racked her body.

Doctor Michaels went to the door and called something to someone outside and a couple of women came to the door and looked at the woman with big eyes. He asked them something in Spanish, and they all answered in affirmative gestures. One of the women went to Bones and took her hand and guided her to the door and out into the rain.

Booth tried to follow but he was denied by Doctor Michaels. He looked at the man in shock.

"Where are they taking her? Why can't I go?"

"Because Agent Booth, traditionally the father is not present when a baby is born. It's against custom. That is one of the most important rules of anthropology; don't mess with the customs of the locals. I'm afraid you'll have to wait here, or outside, but it's really not very pleasant out there."

"But... I'm not...I want to be there..." Both stumbled over his words. He could not fathom not holding her hand as she brought their child into the world. He didn't know how he could wait patiently outside while the miracle of life occurred without him.

"I'm sorry Agent Booth, but we must obey their customs."

Booth stormed out the door and headed out into the rain. It was darkening outside from the heavy cloud cover, and he couldn't see where the women had gone. He did see a few men, including Miguel, coming towards him out of the pouring rain. Miguel looked panicked.

"The river will flood the village tonight. We have to move the people..."

Doctor Michaels approached from behind Booth to find out what was happening. He explained to them what had just happened involving Doctor Brennan.

The men knew that if there was a woman having a baby, the villagers wouldn't leave.

Booth had an idea to help kill the time.

"Can we stop the river from rising? You know sandbags or something?"

Doctor Michaels shook his head.

"No, that's beyond their capability. We cannot interfere."

Miguel saw the panic growing on the tall man's face, and patted his back in reassurance.

"It will be okay Mister Booth, I have five children, and this wait is always taking a long time."

Booth did not look reassured.

Eventually he made his way back into the hut where they had originally been, and waited for hours and hours and hours. The rain never let up, even for a minute.

At one point, Miguel came and sat with him. The water had reached the outer structures of the village, but no one was leaving until the baby was born. Then they would evacuate. More hours passed.

Booth was about ready to defy all custom and rush the hut where she was when the flap of the door opened and he noticed the sun had risen, though the rain continued to pour. Water flooded into the dwelling when the flap was opened. A face poked in and looked around quickly. When she noticed Booth she gestured to him to follow her. Doctor Michaels and Miguel followed close behind him. When Booth made it outside, he could see the damage to the village in the dim light. Water was flowing through most of the huts.

The woman who had beckoned him waited with a huge smile on her face. She spoke to Booth,

"Es un muchacho!"

Booth looked to someone for a translation. Miguel seemed willing,

"She says it's a boy."

Booth stopped in his tracks. He had another son. He knew Parker would be especially thrilled to have a little brother. He had asked for one, but Booth explained to him at the time, that there was no guarantee. As he was stopped with the shock of the news, the clouds suddenly broke, the rains stopped and the sun peeked through the forest.

All the villagers standing near him looked up at the sky in awe. One of the women called out,

"LA lluvia esta parando! El rio va abajo!" Everyone looked at her with huge eyes.

Booth looked again at Miguel for a translation. He obliged,

"She says the rain had stopped, and the river is going down."

The woman had tears in her eyes and she picked up a small child who had been clinging to her leg.

"Rio-Dios ha vuelto ahorrarnos!...Rio-Dios es renacido!"

Everyone was gathering around the woman and they started to dance in a ceremonial way. Booth had absolutely no idea what was going on and he looked again to Miguel with his arms held out in a questioning way.

"They are saying that the River-God has been born again. His birth has saved us all from drowning in the river." Miguel was starting to sway with the chanting that was going on. Rio-Dios was heard more than anything else.

Booth made his way through the crowd. He needed to see his son who was apparently being revered by the entire village. He finally came to a smallish hut on the east end of the community and was greeted by a large group of people gathered outside who all parted out of his way as he walked towards the flap that would grant him access. Everyone patted his back, or touched him in some way as he walked forward. They were all saying Rio-Dios to him as he went.

He finally pulled open the flap and ducked inside. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light and he finally focused on the figure who was laying down on a platform, covered with a roughly woven fabric. She held their son in her arms.

Booth only took a moment to realize how hard the delivery had been on her. She looked awful, but the look in her eyes as she stared at the baby erased all memories of the effort. He was worth it.

They spent a few moments just staring at him. Both of them had tears streaming down their faces.

"He looks just like you Temperance. Are you okay?" She looked exhausted, and he knew she must be after what she had been through. He brushed her soaked hair back from her forehead in a very intimate gesture.

"I feel okay right now... but the mid-wife did give me something in tea, and I have felt a lot better since then." She handed the baby to Booth and leaned back on her crude bedding. Her eyes closed just briefly, and they flickered open. She looked at father and son.

"You were right Booth. It was a boy. I guess that means you get to name him. Any ideas?" Her eyes closed again.

"I think he's already been named. The villagers seem to think he is some kind of God, who was reborn to save them all. They're calling him Rio-Dios."

"Booth, that means River–God in Spanish. That is very anthropologically significant if that's what they think he is. He will be very important to this village. They will honour him."

"Well, what do you think if we call him Rio, but eliminate the God connotation to his name? I would feel better about that. And Rio means river right? That's still pretty relevant to what happened here tonight. I will argue that he is a miracle."

"I think Rio is perfect. I think he is perfect." She brushed the top of the baby's head.

Booth leaned down and kissed her.

"I think you're perfect."

"Booth, don't be cheese. What do you think his middle name should be?"

Booth let her misuse of the phrase pass.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"Danger." She smiled and closed her eyes. He looked at her carefully, while a slight smile appeared on his face.

"Bones, are you stoned right now?"

"Yes, I do believe that there is something that was in that tea that is impairing my judgement right now. Why?"

"No reason. Maybe you should get some sleep." He laughed to himself and noticed that she had already drifted into a light sleep.

He looked closely at his new son, and whispered to him,

"Don't let your first impression of your mother fool you. She's really not that funny, but we love her anyway!"

He gently removed a snake that was starting to work its way towards her bare leg.

**

The following morning the river had dropped enough to make the safe passage back downstream to where Booth was sure that Murphy would have called in reinforcements by now. He wondered if his daughter was okay. She had rarely been separated from them in her year of life.

When they approached the end of the tributary where they had left Murphy, Booth saw him run off the boat onto the very newly re-built dock. He called out,

"Are you guys okay? I saw the river flooding and I wondered where the heck you guys were." It was then that he noticed the tiny baby bundled up against his mother's chest in a makeshift sling. He was shocked. "What did you guys do?"

Booth smiled at the man as he helped Bones walk towards their boat. She was moving very slowly after the long ride down the river in the canoe.

"We saved a village from flooding."

Murphy took Brennan's arm as she reached the deck, and she immediately went below deck to lie down. The Navy Seal gave his friend a huge hug and an offer of congratulations and then he went to start the engine of the boat.

Miguel told them he was going to stay in the village for a few more days and enjoy the celebrations that would last for awhile. Booth gave him his heartfelt thanks and they made their way down the river towards the city where they could get mother and child checked out in a hospital. Even though everything seemed just fine, Booth needed to be sure.

Murphy asked his friend to explain everything that happened when they were in the village, and Booth said he would tell him later, it was a long story. He made his way down to the room where his new son complemented his already perfect family.

He asked Bones if there was anything she needed and she asked him if he would mind brewing a cup of that the delightful tea that the mid-wife had sent with them.

He did.

**


	6. Thursday, all seems well

_Thursday..._

Angela once again waited in the Royal Diner for her lunch companion. She wiggled in her seat in anticipation; the person who was meeting her was her best friend that she hadn't really spoken to in private in almost two years. She couldn't believe Brennan was back in town. It had been so long and she had missed her terribly. They had a lot to catch up on.

Finally, after what had seemed forever to Angela, the Forensic Anthropologist walked through the door and looked around. She spied Angela almost immediately and approached the table with a huge smile. Angela stood up to greet her and the two friends hugged warmly in meeting.

Angela finally had a chance to get a close look at her friend. She looked like the same old Brennan, physically anyway. With the exception of the dark tan.

"Sweetie, you look amazing. You didn't bring the kids?" Angela noticed the little smile form on her friends face.

"No, I had a ton of things to do today, and Max offered to watch them. Payton has really taken a liking to him." Brennan's smile was warm as she thought of her daughter and her father together. When she had left, Max was enthralling her with the deep science of static electricity caused by rubbing a balloon on the little girl's hair.

"He missed you guys more than anybody. I hope you know that. We all missed you." Angela couldn't keep the tears from her eyes.

"I'm glad that he is around. I have seen firsthand the positive impact that a grandparent can have on a child's life. I hope he's interested in staying in DC; it would be great to see him on a regular basis.

After the waitress had taken their order, the two just sat and stared at each other. Angela didn't know which question to ask first, and Brennan didn't know which information to volunteer first.

"Where are your bodyguards today? I'm surprised they let you out of their sight!" The artist had a knowing look on her face. She could only imagine how protective Booth had been over the time that passed while they were in hiding, what she knew of Murphy, he seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Booth. Classic alpha-male. Brennan's dramatic roll of her eyes confirmed for Angela her suspicions.

"I must admit, this morning... running errands in a city that is familiar, with actual silence, and pauses in the conversation, on my own, was a rare treat," She caught the surprised look on her friends face, "Don't get me wrong, I love Booth to death, and my children are the most amazing thing that I've ever accomplished, and I've grown to love Murphy like family, but it was nice to be by myself. Just like old times."

Angela waited while the waitress poured each of them a cup of coffee. She thought to herself that the Brennan of old times had come a long way with respect to her emotional acceptance of her surroundings. She looked truly happy. Eventually Brennan noticed that Angela hadn't touched her coffee yet and was staring at her.

"What Ange?" They smiled at each other.

"I don't know honey. You seem so, I don't know..." Adjectives failed her.

"Happy? Relieved? Content?" Brennan filled some in for her.

"Yeah. You really do."

"I am Angela. Now that the Crew is caught, and it doesn't seem like anyone is trying to kill one of us for the moment, I feel a sense of contentment that I never knew could exist. I just want life to return to normal, I am really looking forward to returning to work. I miss the stimulation of intelligent conversation with like-minded people. Booth and Murphy have a tendency to go off sports related tangents. They 'double-team' me, so to speak." She made quotation marks with her fingers.

Angela laughed at her friend's proper use of a sports term and her gesture. She had definitely come a long way in a few short years. Booth had obviously had an impact on her personality while they had been away.

"Where is your hunky FBI Agent anyway? You said the kids were with Max?"

"Yes, Booth got a call this morning asking if he would like to watch the interrogation of one of the Crew. He went down to the Hoover building to see what they could find out about why those people hate us so much. Why they so desperately want us dead."

Angela thought for a minute.

"Who asked him to come?"

"Sweets. He called us this morning." Temperance noticed the annoyed look cross her friend's face at the mention of the psychologist's name. "Why?"

"Sweets isn't very popular right now with all of us from the lab. The Zack situation and all..."

"What Zack situation?"

The artist went on to tell her friend about what had gone down very recently with Brennan's former grad student. That Sweets had known that Zack didn't really kill the lobbyist for which he had been sentenced to the psychiatric ward for. Brennan was shocked. She had not heard about this little turn of events. The courts had re-sentenced him and it was determined that he had served a just sentence already for the crime he did commit. He was released as long as he adhered to strict rules while he was on a very unique type of parole. Cam had pulled a lot of strings to get him a job at the Jeffersonian, but the young man was forbidden to be involved in anything case related. They were all just happy he was around again, even though he was employed as the janitor.

Brennan was not sure how she felt about the news of Zack's apparent innocence. His betrayal of both her and logic, had hurt her so deeply that she was not able to compartmentalize her feelings so quickly as she would have liked. She was anxious to see him on Monday when she had agreed to return to the Jeffersonian to fulfil her need to do what she did better than anybody else. She had spoken to Cam that morning to make the arrangements, but the coroner had failed to mention anything about Zack.

The two of them spent the next hours discussing the events, good or bad, that happened to them over the time spent while the partners were in hiding.

Brennan filled in Angela on everything she knew about Murphy. The man they had trusted with their lives when they needed somebody the most. Angela was impressed with the Navy Seal. He had overcome his own tragedy of the loss of his family at a very young age to become the top ranked member of the elite Naval Unit known as the SEALs. The artist could hear the respect and admiration from her friend when she spoke of the man. She knew Brennan didn't speak highly of many people, and especially didn't easily let people into her life. It seemed this man had made himself a part of her ever growing family. Angela made a mental note to give the man a hug of thanks the next time she saw him.

They discussed Payton and Rio, and the joy that they brought to their parents lives. Angela could tell how much those children were loved from the look on Brennan's face as she spoke about them. It only made her more determined to have one of her own. She really hoped her and Hodgins had done it this time.

They discussed Hodgins and Angela's relationship and how well that was going. The two of them had postponed getting married until Brennan and Booth were back in town. She wanted the two of them to stand beside her and Hodgins when they finally exchanged their vows. Angela confessed her desire to have a child and her jealousy at Brennan's two. Temperance was shocked that Angela would be jealous of her. She awkwardly tried to comfort her friend about the lack of success in her desire to have children. Her empathic ability had come a long way, but it wasn't perfect yet.

The time slipped away from them as they talked and talked. Both of them were back to their comfort level with their friendship. Temperance was in the middle of her story about how they made their escape from their sinking boat on their return to the United States, they had been caught in a terrible storm and the boat capsized, leaving them, with two small children, fighting for survival, when her cell phone rang from her pocket. She answered,

"Brennan."

Angela listened as her friend spoke to her partner who seemed stressed about something. She told him she would meet him at home right away to discuss things further. Angela smiled to herself as Brennan flicked her eyes briefly to her in what seemed to be a nervous glance before she ended the call with,

"I love you too."

Temperance stood up and put her jacket on, saying she had to go. Angela asked her if everything was alright, to which her friend replied,

"Booth is worried because Rebecca is being difficult about something, I'm sure everything will be fine, but he needs me right now. I should go, I'll see you Monday?"

"Of course you will. And Bren...?"

"Yes?"

Temperance went to give her friend a good-bye hug, waiting for what Angela had to say to her,

"Will you just marry that guy already..."

Brennan rolled her eyes as she smiled.

"Don't you start on me. I got the third degree from my father about that last night. Everything happens eventually. Don't worry. You'll get the invite."

Angela smiled to herself as her friend left the diner and headed to her car.

It was so good to have her back.

***

Booth walked into the interrogation already in progress. His eyes glanced briefly to the room where Sully was in the process of leaning over a young man and just staring at him. The two way mirror hid him from the teenager who had been responsible for running his car off the road just the other night and trying to kill him and Bones. He looked so young; it was hard for Booth to believe that he could have been responsible for the accident.

In the room with him, were Deputy Director Cullen, Doctor Sweets and Caroline Julian. They were all watching the interview in silence, and they all turned towards the door as Booth walked in.

"Hey guys. Did we figure anything out yet? Has he said anything?"

"Wow. Agent Booth, it's good to see you again. Welcome back." Sweets reached for Booth to give him a hug, but the Agent just smiled and shook his head.

"Hey Sweets. How have you been?" Booth turned to Cullen as Sweets began to answer and shook the hand of his Boss.

"Director Cullen, thanks for letting me watch this. I hope he has some answers for us. Has he said anything at all?"

Cullen shook his head. The boy had remained as silent as his mother had during her interrogation after her initial capture years ago. Gavin Taffet felt he owed his mother that much. He would never talk, and he knew the FBI only had him with circumstantial evidence with all the threats towards Booth and Brennan. He hadn't even been driving the car that ran them off the road.

Caroline just shook her head at Booth. He wondered what she could possibly be upset about. He didn't think he had done anything wrong lately.

"What?" He finally had to know.

"Look at you. You come strutting in here all tanned and looking like the cat who ate the mouse, and can't even bother to say hello before you jump right back into the thick of things. Where have you been hiding yourself and that pretty little wife of yours?"

"We're not married Caroline. Not yet anyway." Everyone noticed the little half smile on his face when he said that.

Sweets couldn't keep the shocked look off his face. He hadn't thought the two of them would ever come to terms with their feelings for each other. They had obviously come a long way in the time they were away. Caroline spoke again,

"What did the two of you do while you were gone, besides try to repopulate the Booth name by yourselves?"

"Hey, it's not all my fault. It was a very small bed, and there was no television. What else were we supposed to do?" His cocky grin made everyone smile.

"You could have played a board game." Caroline wasn't quite ready to let it drop. Booth snorted.

"We played Scrabble once, but Bones knows like every word in the English language, as well as a few foreign ones. I got my ass kicked," He laughed at the memory of one of the things she was definitely better than him at. "Maybe we could focus on what's happening in there, and I'll tell you all about our adventures at a more convenient time?" He pointed towards the two behind the glass with both hands.

"How are the kids?" Sweets asked.

"They are amazing. Couldn't ask for a more perfect family." Booth crossed his arms and watched Sully try to get any information about the Crew that he could from the son of Heather Taffet. It didn't look to be going well. Sully looked to be getting frustrated.

Booth noticed Sweets flinch when Sully finally grabbed the young man, pulled him out of the chair where he sat, and threw him against the wall. He whispered something in the boy's ear that the rest of them couldn't hear. Gavin looked at him with an expression that could only be described as pure hatred. The boy finally spoke.

"You don't have anything on me. I'm going to walk, and I'm going to get my dad out of jail, and we're going to get even with you. For everything you've done to us," The young man turned towards the unknown people that were hidden by the mirror, "If you guys want to accuse my family, maybe you should look first in the rooms of your own home, and there maybe you'll find something interesting!"

Booth was the only one who spoke his thoughts out loud.

"What exactly does he mean by that?" His question must have perceived as rhetorical, because no one answered him. No one knew for sure.

Sweets' brain raced with the underlying meaning to his words. Someone in their own home? FBI? Jeffersonian? Booth and Brennan's family? He needed more information.

Sully pushed Gavin up harder against the wall and said clearly to those listening behind the mirror,

"You better watch your mouth unless you can prove what you say..." He whispered something in the boy's ear again. Gavin lessened his struggle and eventually Sully let him sit down in the chair.

The tense moment was interrupted by a phone ringing from Booth's pocket. He apologized but he answered the phone as he walked towards the door. They all heard him say, as he shut the door behind him,

"Hey Parker. Thanks for calling me back... you'll never guess what?..."

The three in the room looked at each other with knowing smiles. Same old Booth.

He came into the room a few minutes later looking both angry and frustrated. He apologized and said they would have to fill him in on anything else that happened. Something important had come up and he had to go.

"Is everything okay?" Sweets asked, his psychological training told him that everything was not, but he wondered if Booth would tell them. Cullen looked concerned too.

"That was Parker. He says that Rebecca isn't coming back to DC, apparently she's happy in Florida, and she's threatening to not let Parker come see me here. She thinks my life is too dangerous for him to be around me," His voice relayed the anger that was growing inside him; "I think she's going to be surprised. He's my son too. She can't do this can she?" His last question was directed at Caroline.

"You can always fight her for custody. Tell you what Cherie, if you marry that little scientist of yours and prove that you have a stable home life, I'll help you fight for your son."

Booth stared at her for a while, his eyes intense, and his expression still angry.

"You know what Caroline; let me get back to you on that one. The decision is not up to me. Not all of it anyway."

He turned and left the room, his mind on his son so far away, and no longer on the interrogation, where Sully was now sitting and staring at Gavin, trying to intimidate him into giving something up that would incriminate him. Anything.

Gavin sat quietly. His trump card was not yet played. He did know something...

***


	7. Calm before the storm

Friday...

Bones woke up early and took a few minutes to get herself oriented. She was still not used to waking up in the bed of her own apartment. The arm wrapped around her was familiar though. She smiled to herself in the pre-dawn dark. It was good to be home. She could tell by the rhythm of the man's breathing that he was not really asleep. She also suspected that he knew she was no longer asleep also.

She felt his warm lips touch her bare shoulder and she sighed. She could wake up like this every morning. Everything felt normal. They were home and safe; they had one last weekend before they both were scheduled to return to work on Monday morning. Their kids slept soundly in the room next to them, comfortable in their new beds. Her father slept on the couch in the living room. Her family was all within her own walls. Their own walls. She amended her thoughts as the man lying next to her shifted in the bed and pulled her close so that his mouth was next to her ear. He whispered,

"Good morning. Last night was wonderful. Thank you..." He kissed her behind her ear and sent shivers down her spine. "Have you thought about what we talked about last night?"

Booth had proposed to her last night. Again. They had discussed the Parker situation and Booth seemed to think that if they were married, he would have a good chance at getting custody, if Rebecca followed through on her threats to not allow him to see his son. He thought they should fly to Vegas, get married, and spend one last weekend having fun before they returned to their duties on Monday. She was hesitant, though the memories of their last trip to Vegas had brought a smile to her face. She still had that little black dress.

Max walking in on the middle of their conversation had not helped matters. He was all for the idea, and offered to stay with the kids while they went away. He assured them that everything would be fine, that they deserved a weekend by themselves after everything they had been through.

She turned in the bed to face her partner, and looked over his face that was shadowed in the dim light. She smiled at him and he smiled back. She could see the love he had for her in his eyes, and a conversation she had with grandfather so long ago came to mind. A conversation where the older Booth had told her how heartbroken his grandson was when Rebecca had refused his proposal. Bones had found out years later why she had said no. The moment hadn't been right.

Of all the moments that had constituted her life so far, she didn't know why this one felt right to her. It could have been the light, it could have been the look in his eyes, it could have been one of any of the infinite nano-seconds that had led them to this spot, but this moment seemed right. Bones kissed him quickly.

"Yes. Let's do it. Let's be frivolous and spontaneous." She knew her words had mended any remnants of the broken heart he had once suffered by the smile that lit up the entire room.

"Seriously, I mean... you're serious right? You'll marry me? This weekend?" He kissed her passionately in his excitement when she nodded and that went on for a few minutes until they were interrupted by their son crying from the next room.

They both laughed and let their foreheads remain touching until he volunteered to get the baby. She watched him as he got out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants. He was a good man, and she was truly happy, and he loved her so much, but she couldn't shake that tiny feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't ready for marriage. She couldn't explain the feeling, even to herself. She rationalized in her mind that it was just a piece of paper, it wouldn't change anything between them, but she had been against the whole marriage thing from a young age, it was hard to convince herself otherwise. Booth had finally made her see. Or so she hoped.

She followed the sounds of her family coming from the kitchen. Both kids were up and Max wandered into the room at the same time she did. Booth was trying to make breakfast for their kids and coffee at the same time. He had been in the kitchen less than five minutes, and already chaos had ensued.

Bones took their son from his arms, and Payton went to Max, as he sat down, and crawled into his lap with her father's smile on her face. They both beamed, and Temperance felt her heart beat harder with the sight of her daughter and her father so closely bonded already.

Booth turned to Max and casually asked him if his offer of watching the kids was still good for the weekend. It took him less than a second to comprehend the implications and he jumped up, with Payton in his arms, to give both of them a huge hug.

"It's about time. Of course I'll watch them. Congratulations you guys. I'm so happy for you both! It's about time!"

Temperance handed her son back to his father when his breakfast was ready and excused herself to go make a phone call.

She sat on the couch and dialled the number of her other best friend. The one she wasn't planning on marrying in the next days. Angela answered her cell phone and her squeal could be heard through the room when Temperance asked her and Hodgins to accompany them to Vegas for the weekend. It was the official invite.

Angela said she would meet them at the airport later in the afternoon, and Brennan told her she would make the arrangements for the flights, and a place to stay. The plan was in action. To her surprise, Temperance felt good about the whole thing.

She wandered back into the kitchen and walked right up to Booth and kissed him passionately. He accepted the kiss; there were no inhibitions from either of them in present company. Max did eventually clear his throat, and the two of them looked at him with matching smiles.

"Save something for the honeymoon will you guys?"

Booth laughed,

"We're doing things a little unorthodox here, we had the kids, and then had the honeymoon, and now we're going to have the wedding. Works for me!" He kissed her again, but she pulled away from the embrace with a smile saying they had to go pack. He followed her to their bedroom, leaving Max to finish feeding the kids. He shut the door behind them, and his soon-to-be father-in-law smiled at the little boy and girl.

"If they keep that up, there's going to be another one of you guys before too long." Payton just stared at him, her face covered on oatmeal. She wasn't sure what her grandfather had said exactly, but her little charm smiles made the man smile too.

***

Cam stood on the platform in the lab of the Jeffersonian. She had just spoken to Angela, who had informed her that she and Hodgins were taking an extra day to their weekend. An emergency trip had just come up and they were flying out that afternoon.

Now the Coroner sighed as she waited for the medical examiners to bring in the body they had called her about earlier. It had been found in downtown DC that morning with the face burned off with what appeared to be acid. Now, only she and Wendell and Clark were left to process the body. Determine identity, and cause of death. It was going to be a long day.

She watched Zack push a mop bucket through the doors and wave to her before he started his task. She smiled and waved back. He had been adapting strangely well to his new position, she had been concerned that he would try to involve himself in his old job, but he just very patiently went through the motions of his day. He seemed happy to not be in custody anymore. He had told her yesterday about a fantastic new floor wax he had created that would increase his efficiency by eighteen percent. She smiled as she shook her head. Same old Zack.

Wendell and Clark came from bone storage at the same time the expected body arrived. They all met in the room where they would perform the autopsy. Cam let Wendell do the initial observations. He determined the body was that of a Caucasian male, age seventeen to twenty years old, and cause of death seemed to be the bullet hole in the back of the head. The Coroner agreed with what he said, and they went on to their tasks to determine identity. The face was gone from the body, but his fingers were undamaged, the finger prints could be run through the system. Maybe the kid had a record.

They wondered if Angela could have done a facial reconstruction is she was there, and they all missed Hodgins. As with every case they had in the last two years, Cam missed the expertise of Doctor Brennan. Wendell and Clark did a great job, but they couldn't compare to Brennan on the case. She wondered where Sully was. He did a great job too, but he was no Booth.

She X-rayed the body and determined that the bullet that killed the young man was no longer in the skull. That would have been too easy. They could have traced the bullet back to the gun responsible for the young man's death.

The morning passed quickly and it was early afternoon before Sully made an appearance. Cam filled him in on what they had found out so far, and Sully listened carefully. He asked what they were going to do next, and Cam told him that they were at an impasse until the fingerprints were run through the system. With no bullet, they were stuck, in that regards.

Zack happened to be walking past the conversation at that second, and stopped, looking to Cam as though he wanted to say something. She noticed him and asked him what was wrong.

"Why don't you use Doctor Brennan's technique of reverse-engineering the bullet? That way you could at least determine the type of gun used. It could help later if you find a suspect."

Cam thought for a minute, and stared at Sully. He seemed deep in thought too.

"Can you guys really do that?" His eyes seemed far away.

"Doctor Brennan developed the technique, and I used it myself on occasion. I could talk Wendell through the process." Zack reminded the two that he was still there.

"No!" Sully's response surprised them both, and he attempted to explain himself, "Zack, you can't be involved in any process of collecting evidence. Any defence attorney would have a field day if they found out that a former psych patient is helping us. You understand that right?"

Zack looked sad for just a second, and then his face went back to neutral.

"I know. I was just trying to help." He continued on his way, his gloved-hands still carried the spray bottle and cloth.

"Well, why don't I call the good Doctor herself? Maybe she'd be willing to help us out. I forgot she was back in town."

Sully nodded and Cam went over to the phone and called the Doctor. Sully listened to the conversation from only the one side, and he sensed that something might be wrong from Cam's concerned questions. When she ended the call she turned to him and filled him in what she knew.

"Wow, she sounded really upset about something. She said she would be able to come in tomorrow, but she had to be at home tonight."

"Trouble in paradise?" Cam could have sworn that Sully almost looked happy about that. He was apparently not as over her as he pretended to be.

"I really doubt that." She said to him with conviction. His slight smile disappeared.

"Yeah, me too."

Clark came through the door at that moment with a piece of paper in his hand.

"The fingerprints got a hit. The body is one of the Gravedigger's Crew. It's Gavin Taffet."

They all looked at the body, and then the two Squints looked back to Sully.

"We had to release him yesterday, we had nothing on him. Looks like someone else got to him before we could." He turned and left the room, leaving the Squints to wonder, once again, what the hell was happening.

***

Booth and Bones waited at the gate in the airport for their friends to show up. Booth could not wipe the smile off of his face. He paced around, eager to get on the plane and get to Vegas. Eager to fulfill the last wish he had when it came to the love of his life. By the end of the weekend, they would be married. He looked at Bones and though she seemed happy too, he felt there was something she was not sharing with him.

He sat down next to her on the connected seats and took her hand and made her look in his eyes.

"Are you sure about his Bones? IS this what you want?" He watched tears form in her eyes.

"I think so. This is what you want right? It will help you if you want to fight for Parker." As hard as she tried to contain them, the tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I only want what you want. I want you to be sure..." he wiped some of the tears off of her cheek and she leaned her face into his hand.

"I want this, but Booth, I can't help but feel that we're rushing into this marriage thing." He couldn't help the snort that escaped him.

"Temperance, we've been acting like an old married couple for years now. It's only cementing in the eyes of the law what already exists. But, if you want to wait, I'll wait forever for you. I don't want you to feel pressured. We'll do this on your timeline." His eyes had such a look of honesty and true intent that she knew by waiting that his heart was with her. It always would be.

"Then let's wait. I promise that someday...I will marry you, just not yet. I love you." She reached for him to embrace him, and he held her tightly. Everything was alright.

"I believe you Bones. Whenever you're ready. I'll be right here." His acceptance of her feelings brought a full set of tears to her now. He just held her, letting her know that everything was alright. He understood.

His phone rang from his pocket and he ignored it. It rang again instantly. He pulled back from her and apologized, but it seemed that the call might be important. He wandered away a little bit to take the call, and she tried to regain her composure. She noticed people staring at her.

He came back a few minutes later looking panicked. She asked him what was wrong.

"That was Rebecca, Parker ran away and they can't find him anywhere. She asked if I could come." He looked unsure of what to do.

"Did he run away, or did someone take him?" She had to ask, knowing of the threats against them in the last years.

"She said he left a note, saying he was coming to DC, he was coming to see me...Bones, I think I have to go."

"I think you do too. Go book a ticket, and I'll wait here for Angela and Hodgins..."

He paused for only a second.

"Are we okay?" His expression was hopeful.

"We're perfect. Go!" He turned and went towards the booking agent to change his flight from Las Vegas to Miami.

Brennan only waited a few minutes before their companions made their arrival. Angela noticed instantly the tears in her friend's eyes.

"Sweetie? What's wrong?"

Temperance filled her in the events of the last minutes, and Angela looked concerned. So did Hodgins. She did her best to assure her friends that everything was fine, at least with her and Booth. They had just decided to wait a little longer to take the plunge. Angela said they would cancel their plans too. They would wait for her and Booth to be with them.

Temperance told them with a firm look in her eyes that they should probably go ahead without them. Who knew how long before they would be ready. The two of them deserved to be happy. She offered them her and Booth's reservation at the chapel and knew she had convinced Angela by the smile on her face. The artist looked to her own partner.

"What do you think Jack, do you want to get married this weekend?"

He nodded with a huge smile. His wait might finally be over.

Booth came back and told them that if he hurried, he could be on the next flight to Miami, which was departing in a few minutes. He kissed Bones quickly, asking again if everything was all right. She convinced him that it was, and made him promise to call her the second they found Parker. He promised her everything she wanted, and that he always would. In a flash, he was gone, heading towards his flight.

Angela and Hodgins were called to their own gate to catch their flight, leaving Temperance alone on the seats.

When she was finally alone, the tears started again. They weren't necessarily tears of sadness, but tears of joy, that she had such wonderful people in her life. People who understood her.

As she made to leave, to head home to her father and kids, her own phone rang. She tried to muffle the sob that was stuck in her throat before she answered, but it came out as she first spoke.

The call was from Cam, asking her if she could help them out with a case that they needed her expertise on. She told her boss that she would be happy to help tomorrow, but she couldn't make it today. Cam sensed something was wrong, but she wouldn't tell her. Doctor Brennan said that she would see her tomorrow morning, and that she would be happy to help out.

She clicked her phone shut and left the airport.

***

TBC....


	8. Saturday, The knock on the Door

Saturday...

Booth woke up in the late morning, unsure of where he was at first. His eyes adjusted to the bright sunshine and he remembered suddenly where he was. Sleeping on Rebecca's couch. He sat up and looked around the room, he saw his son sleeping on the chair across from the couch. He smiled. He knew it had been a long night for the boy.

By the time Booth had arrived in Florida, the authorities had already found Parker. He was in a bus station, trying to convince someone to buy a ticket for him to get to Washington D.C. He just wanted to see his dad, and his little brother and sister. His mom had told him that he couldn't go back to the only city he had ever called home, and he had been heartbroken. He didn't understand why.

Booth swung his feet to the floor and watched his son open his eyes. The boy smiled when he saw his dad was awake. He looked at his dad with apologetic eyes, and Booth patted the couch next to him. Parker leaped across the room and sat next to his dad and looked at him, waiting for the repercussions of his actions.

"Daddy, I'm sorry I scared you. I just wanted to come see you. Mom said I couldn't go anymore and I was mad. It's not fair."

"I know bud, but you can't run away like that. It scared your mom and me half to death. What if something happened to you? You're lucky nothing did. Look, I'll talk to your mom, and I'm sure we can come to an agreement, and you can come and stay with us sometimes. Does that sound good?" The little boy nodded, his blonde curls shook.

Booth looked past his son to see Rebecca standing in the doorway.

"Why don't you go get dressed and we'll go somewhere and hang out okay?" Parker hopped off the couch and before turning to head up the stairs to his bedroom he turned to his father.

"Dad?" Booth smiled at him, waiting for him to say what he had to say, "I only ran away because that's what you did. I thought it would be okay. I'm sorry." He turned and ran up the stairs.

Booth was shocked. There was only one person from whom Parker would have heard that. She was still standing in the doorway, but she looked as shocked as he must have.

He looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Did you tell him that?...What gives Rebecca, you know the circumstances of why we had to disappear."

She crossed the floor and sat on the chair where their son had been.

"I know Seeley, I'm sorry. I was mad at you...you know? I mean, you and Doctor Brennan piss off some serial killer or kidnapper or whatever, and my son and I get uprooted to a strange state, a strange city, left to fend for ourselves while you and your new girlfriend go gallivanting off in the Caribbean. I was jealous. It should have been me. I still love you Seeley."

He sat quietly on the couch. He thought carefully before he answered her.

"Rebecca, you and I will always have a bond through our son, but my life is what it is now. Parker is an important part of it, and he always will be, but he's not my only child anymore. You have to accept that I am in love with Doctor Brennan and we have our own family now, and there will always be a place for Parker there. If you deny me visitation, I will fight you for custody, and there's a chance I will win. I know powerful people who will help me."

Rebecca eyed him carefully.

"Is that a threat?"

He smiled at her. No hint of a charm smile. All business.

"Do you want to find out?"

She now sat quietly. Those were not the words that she wanted to hear from him. She had secretly hoped that after all these years; he would admit that he still had feelings for her, and come rushing back to be with her. She now accepted the truth. His heart now belonged to someone else. She had missed her chance.

"I'm sorry Seeley. I reacted badly. We can work something out. He is your son too. You didn't give up anything to come here this weekend did you?" She truly looked sorry, and Booth was confident that she would not back down on her words.

"Yeah, nothing that can't be re-scheduled though. There's nothing I wouldn't do for our son. Always know that." His eyes were serious, not a hint of joking in them. "Now, if it's okay with you, I'm going to take advantage of my trip here, and spend the day with Parker and explain the difference between running away and running for your life. He seems to be confused about the difference."

She caught his subtle jab at her to watch what she said to the boy. His young mind didn't always understand subtleties. Just like someone else he knew and loved. He suddenly remembered that he had promised to call Bones to tell her what was going on. He excused himself from Rebecca's presence to make the phone call. All was well with the Parker situation.

***

Bones waited until she had heard from Booth before she headed into the Jeffersonian. She was relieved that Parker had been found and all seemed well. Booth had promised her he was on his way back tomorrow morning and they could at least spend one day together before they started back to the grind on Monday. She smiled at his words. She was looking forward to returning to work. It was no grind for her.

She left Max with the kids and took her rental car to the lab. She thought about a new car, and wondered if Booth would like to own some flashy little number that went fast and had a lot of power. She assumed he would, she tried to imagine his smile when she surprised him with the vehicle. Then she considered the kids, and thought that perhaps something a little more family oriented would be better for them. Or, maybe both. The sales from her last book had guaranteed her financial security for her family. The movie deal still was still in the works too.

As she walked into the lab she was amazed at how comfortable she felt. She was also amazed at how empty the lab was. It had been a long time since she was there on a Saturday. She found Cam and the two of them spoke briefly about the body of Gavin Taffet and how he came to be in their possession. Cam asked her if she would be able to do the reverse-engineering on the bullet hole in the back of the skull, to try to determine the type of gun used to execute the boy.

Bones looked at the skull for only a moment while deciding. She came to the conclusion that it could be done, it would take her a few hours, but she was confident that she could come up with an approximate likeness of the bullet, and then the make and model of the gun that fired it.

Cam let her get to it.

A few hours of computer work and fine detail work with her hands and she felt right back at home in the lab. It felt good to be back. Her and Wendell entered the parameters of their work findings into the computer and waited while it searched through the database for a match. Wendell told her it could take hours and maybe she should take a break. She agreed. Their work would have gone much faster if they had more hands helping, but it was the weekend.

She made her way across the floor of the lab and entered her office. She had not really had a good look at it since it had been rebuilt after the explosion. It was pretty much the same, but all of her personal effects had been lost. The room lacked her personal touch. Oh well, she thought, there would be time to refurnish it again. She pulled a small picture out of her purse and leaned it up against the lamp that sat on the desk. It was a picture of Booth, Payton and Rio, sitting on a beach somewhere. She couldn't remember which one specifically, but she loved the picture. It was a good start to furnishing her desk at least. She was smiling at the picture when she heard someone knock gently on the door. She looked up to see Sully standing in the doorway. She waved him in.

"Hey Tempe. Did you manage to match the bullet using your technique?" He smiled, but his smile faded when he saw what she had been smiling at. The picture, not him.

"We're close. I'm confident that my procedure will yield the correct bullet and then the corresponding gun. It shouldn't be much longer." She watched as he sat across from her.

"Listen, Tempe, there's been something I've wanted to ask you, but I haven't been able to catch you alone. And now, here we are..."

She looked at him with her head tilted slightly and a questioning look. She had no idea what he had to say.

"Are you happy with Booth? I mean... is there any chance at all that we could have another chance at what we had. I've never stopped loving you, you know. Everything I did, I did it for you. I just want you to know that."

"Sully... I don't know what to say. Honestly, I am very happy with Booth. I've never been happier. I can't imagine my life without him at this point. He's the father of my children and I truly believe that he is the one person I was meant to be with." She stared Sully in the eyes, trying to make him realize that what they had was long gone.

"You won't marry him though. Why not?"

"That's none of your business Sully. I will marry him someday, when the time is right."

Sully stood up and started to walk out the door. He had embarrassed himself enough, but there was one thing he had to know. He turned back towards her.

"What does Booth have that I don't?"

She barely hesitated before she spoke.

"My heart."

Sully knew then that there was no turning back. His dreams of a life with her were over. He hadn't fully given up hope until that point. Now, there was no hope left. He turned and walked quickly to the doors of the lab. She followed him for a short while but realized that he was walking too quickly and she wouldn't catch him.

For some reason, she was unnerved by their conversation. Sully had seemed strange. She hoped it was not her fault. The incident faded quickly when her phone rang from her pocket. It was Max asking when she was coming home. Rio was crying and wouldn't stop and Max was at his wits end. Temperance assured him that she was on her way. She could hear her son crying in the background.

She stopped to tell Wendell that she had to go, but to let her know what the results of the search had found out. She wondered who had killed Gavin Taffet, but they didn't have much to go on. Her method of the reverse engineering might be their only chance at identifying the killer.

She left for home and not half an hour later the computer where Wendell was sitting beeped. The search was done. They had a match. Wendell read over the report, checked the results again and stood up to find Cam. She might know what to do with the information. It was big.

When Cam read the results she looked shocked. And a little freaked. She asked him to double check the results, and he told her he already had.

"We better call Cullen in for this one. This is big." She reached for the phone as Wendell nodded.

An hour later Cullen was reading over the report in his hands and his eyes got big as he read. He looked to the others.

"How accurate is this?"

"Doctor Brennan rarely makes mistakes. We can probably use this in court, if we can find the gun to match the striations on the bullet. It's a twenty-two calibre bullet made specifically for the Sig Sauer P226 hand gun. The gun specifically used by Navy Seals," Cam looked at Cullen, "Do you think that Murphy had anything to do with this?"

Cullen remained silent. He wondered if it was time to divulge information to the Squints. He might need their help now.

"Ever since Booth was kidnapped and put on that Navy Ship, we have suspected that someone within the FBI was helping Heather Taffet. This was not who we suspected though. I've had an undercover agent following who we did suspect, but no evidence has ever turned up. The man was good at covering his tracks. This is new to me. Here's what we're going to do... I'm going to call Murphy in and ask him point blank if he has the gun and we'll gage his reaction from there."

He set up the plan with Cam and Wendell, the only two in the lab. Everyone else was gone for the weekend. He called Murphy, who said he was on his way. The fact that Murphy readily agreed to come in, made Cullen think that he was not their man. Murphy had risked his life to help Booth and Brennan; he couldn't imagine that all this time he had been plotting their demise. He had opportunity enough while they were in hiding. He had special plans for Murphy, and he hoped there was an explanation as to why a gun that belonged to a Navy Seal had killed Gavin Taffet.

They waited patiently for the Navy Seal to arrive and when he did a short time later, Cullen wasted no time with subtleties.

"I need to know where your service revolver is. It may have been used in a murder very recently."

Murphy looked shocked, then mad, and then a strange comprehending look crossed his face. He finished with an expression that no one could read.

"Sir, when I was first asked by Agent Sullivan to help out Booth and Brennan, I had to leave in a hurry, so I gave my weapon to someone for safekeeping."

"Who did you give it to?" Cullen had never used such a serious tone that any of them had heard before. Murphy looked saddened by what he was about to say.

"I gave the gun to Sully. I thought I could trust him."

Everyone took only moments to realize the implications of Murphy's words. There was a good chance that Sully had killed Gavin Taffet. But why? Cam asked Cullen what he suspected. The man was silent for a few moments. Lost in his own thoughts.

"Has anyone seen Sully today?"

"I saw him talking to Doctor Brennan in her office a while ago, but then he left. She left shortly after. He knows that we were close to finding out the make of the gun." Wendell filled in the Deputy Director of the FBI what he had seen.

Cullen went to the phone and dialled a number. He was no longer concerned about who overheard him. He was worried that everything was about to fall apart. The Squints heard him clearly say when someone answered the phone from the other end,

"Are you in D.C. yet?... Okay, I need to you tail Sully... yeah, we might finally have him. It's circumstantial at this point, but I think we can use this information to get William Burton to talk. We think Sully killed his son, Gavin, to keep him quiet. There's nothing left to lose for the leader of the Crew. We'll get him to talk now... yeah, just be careful. He's probably used up all his favours and now he might be desperate. Watch yourself..." And Cullen hung up the phone.

The Squints and Murphy wanted to ask who he had just spoken to, but Cullen picked up the phone again before they could. This time he called Doctor Brennan and was relieved when she answered her home phone. He asked if everything was alright and asked her to call him if she heard from Sully. He wouldn't tell her why. She said everything was just fine, but he heard the suspicion in her voice. He told her he hoped everything would be just fine. They were just looking for Sully. He had no idea that Booth was not at home. He might not have been so secretive if he had known she was home alone with the children. He would regret that in the future.

He turned to Murphy and told him they were going down the county jail to have a little talk with William Burton about who, from the FBI, was helping The Crew. Cullen was sure now that they had their man. They just needed proof. He had suspected Sully, specifically, since the explosion in the Jeffersonian, but kept his suspicions quiet to everyone but his undercover agent. Now they might have the proof that would lead to further information, and the apprehension of the person responsible for it all. Then, perhaps, Booth and Brennan could live in peace. He owed them that much after all they had done for the FBI. Repeatedly putting their life on the line to keep criminals from getting away with murder.

He and Murphy rushed out of the lab and headed to their destination. William Burton, Heather Taffet's long time partner, would talk one way or another.

***

Temperance was just getting the kids ready for bed when she heard the knock on the door.

She put Payton in her crib and smiled at the little girl before she went down the hallway to open the door. She assumed it was Max, who had run out to pick up a few things and she opened the door without checking the peephole. Even if she had checked, she would have opened the door to her friend standing on the other side.

The door opened and she was shocked to see Sully standing there with a gun pointed at her. He spoke before she could.

"Tempe, I didn't want it to come to this, but come with me now, or I will shoot both of your children in the head and make you watch. Don't make a sound." He cocked the gun and she knew he was serious, but she had no idea why he was doing this.

In that moment, she suddenly understood the sacrifice her parents had made all those years ago when they had left her and Russ. She knew exactly how they must have felt as they made the decision to leave. They had done it for love. To protect her. And it was for the love of her own children that she closed the door behind her and went with Sully to destinations unknown...

***

To be concluded....

_Sunday is a long day. Sully's fall will be explained. All questions answered...._


	9. Sunday, The Betrayal Revealed

Sunday...

_Shortly after midnight..._

Cullen and Murphy sat in the interview room waiting for the man that they desperately needed answers from. He had been asleep in his cell and now they waited for officials to bring him to them.

It wasn't that long before the man was led through the doors and sat down across from the two men, Cullen had made the officers know of the extreme nature of their situation.

William Burton looked at the two and sighed.

"What the hell is this all about? I have nothing to say to you." The man looked exhausted, but there was no sympathy from his interrogators.

Cullen had told Murphy to follow his lead. They were going to use the information they had about the gun to get information from the man, even though it was only circumstantial evidence that Sully had killed Gavin.

"Mister Burton, we need to know who from the FBI was helping you." Cullen started his rouse.

"I am saying nothing. You've got me, Heather is dead, and the rest of the Crew was obsolete. Gavin was released... what can you do to make me talk. You have nothing."

"We are here to let you know that we have evidence that Agent Sullivan killed your son. We're hoping that with this information, you will no longer feel the need to protect him."

"Gavin's dead? What?..." The man looked shocked. Apparently no one had yet informed him of the news. "How?"

"After he was released from custody, someone found him and executed him in an alley. We identified his body two days ago. We have evidence that it was Agent Sullivan who killed him."

William looked at his hands for awhile. He sighed, and the two men saw the tears form in his eyes. He was defeated.

"What do you guys want to know?"

"Everything that happened between Sully and yourself. Everything he did to help you guys, and we need you to testify in open court about everything that you know." Cullen took out a tape recorder and pressed play.

"I'm a dead man if I talk. He'll get to me."

"We can protect you." It broke Murphy's heart to have to say those words to him. After all this man had put his friends through, he now insinuated that his protective skills could be used on the man from whom they had been running for so long.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, I have nothing left to live for..."

"Tell us and we'll protect you."

The man sat silently for a minute. Then he opened his mouth and spilled all the information he had on Sully.

Their contact began shortly after the Gravedigger's initial abduction of Doctor Brennan and Jack Hodgins. The Crew had hoped to score big from that kidnapping, but they were shocked when the ransom was not paid, and then Agent Booth and his team figured out where they were and rescued them. The hatred of Booth specifically had begun there. He had cost them a lot of money.

Shortly after that, Agent Sullivan had somehow figured out who was responsible, and blackmailed them for money. With that money, he had bought the boat that he had hoped that Doctor Brennan would sail away with him. She didn't, but Sully left anyway.

A few years later, Sully approached William and Heather again, this time to blackmail them into kidnapping Booth, leaving him dead, but with the assumption for everybody that the Gravedigger was responsible. His plan for this was because of his love for the forensic anthropologist, who Sully had been keeping tabs on over the years. He had heard rumours of the impending romance between the partners and his jealousy had driven him mad. He wanted Booth dead, so he could swoop in and pick up the pieces of her broken heart.

That incident had not gone well, somehow, they had found Booth, with the help of his brother, and Heather had been captured. Their plans had been thwarted by the Squints.

This is where William assumed that Sully officially went mad. They had planned that kidnapping for so long, and it had seemed fool-proof, but somehow Booth survived. Jared died shortly after that, saving Sully and the Crew the trouble of murdering him for his meddling.

William then went on to explain how he and his son, Gavin, had blackmailed Sully into breaking Heather out of prison. He had cooperated, and once Heather was out, they started a new plan to get Booth out of the way, so that Sully could have Brennan.

Sully had been the one to make the threats against the two on behalf of the Gravedigger, but he never expected Booth and Brennan to go into hiding together. He hadn't known that their relationship had been established already and they were expecting their first child. Sully assumed that Booth would go off with Rebecca and his son, not Brennan. Plans were thwarted again.

When Booth's Grandfather died, they made another plan to take out Booth. The explosions in the Jeffersonian were arranged by Sully, with the plan to be there for Brennan when Booth died. He had been surprised as everyone when she went into labour in the lab and gave birth to the little girl. Plans were ruined again, when Agent Perotta stepped in front of Heather's bullets to save Booth. Sully had said he took out Heather to make it look real, but William knew that was the beginning of the end for their cooperation. Killing Heather was not part of the deal.

Sully continued to make threats against the partners, in the hope that somehow, the two would break up and she would come back to D.C. but they stayed hidden for so long. Sully wasn't receiving the same information from Cullen on their whereabouts at that time and was surprised that Cullen let him be part of the plan to bring Booth and Brennan back to their home. He gave the information to the Crew, and plans were made again to take out Booth. Plans were thwarted one more time, when a storm forced the people on his boat to change direction and they never reached the rendezvous point arranged with Cullen. It was luck that they hadn't because William and Sully were waiting to take out Booth and Murphy, and somehow the children. Sully wanted only her, not the spawn of Booth.

The chase back to D.C. was the final confrontation. William had no idea that they were being set-up by the FBI and had fallen into the trap that led to his incarceration. And now, here he sat. Nothing left to live for. His own family was dead; the other Crew members meant nothing to him. He hoped revenge on Sully in the form of the man's own apprehension was enough to calm his soul.

Cullen and Murphy sat in shock when William finished his story. He let them know that he had recorded conversations with Sully that he had hung onto that were somewhere safe, and he would turn them over to the FBI. He didn't care what happened now.

Cullen thanked him, but Murphy could not. The Navy Seal sat staring at the man after Cullen had risen to leave. He really wanted to punch the man and Cullen sensed that as he put his hand on Murphy's shoulder.

"Let's go get Sully."

Murphy stood up and followed the Deputy Director out of the room. When they reached the lobby, both men turned their cell phones back on and the message alerts beeped at the same time. Cullen accessed his first, it was a message from Booth, saying that Bones was gone, Max had come home find her gone, and the kids were alone in the apartment. He was worried.

Murphy had the same message. It had been sent fifteen times while they were talking to William Burton.

The two looked at each other in panic. They had failed. Sully had her. They both knew it.

Murphy made a call to Booth to let him know that they were on it, and let him know the information that they had recently discovered about their 'friend'. Booth let him know that he was about to get on an airplane from Florida and he would be there in less than four hours. Murphy had no idea that Booth was out of town. He knew that since they had been back in D.C. he had let his guard down a little. He regretted that now. He thought they were all safe.

Cullen made a call to someone unknown and told the man on the other end of the phone that they had firm evidence against Sully and it was time to take him down. Alive if at all possible.

The two men got in Cullen's vehicle and called FBI headquarters, asking for anyone and everyone to keep an eye out for both Doctor Brennan and Sully. They couldn't have much more than a couple hours head start. They couldn't be far. But where could they be?

The men brainstormed as they drove.

***

Temperance had been sitting in the same position for hours now.

Sully had blindfolded her and handcuffed her before she was put in the trunk of his car. They had driven for awhile and finally she was lead up some stairs and into a flat of some kind. Memories of her youth flooded her brain while she was in the trunk and she had very nearly panicked, but the car had stopped in time and she regained her composure.

Now, though she was blindfolded, she used her other senses to guess where she was. She recognized the squeak of the floorboard by the hall closet whenever Sully let his pacing take him in that direction. She recognized the dingy smell of the old couch where she sat. She smelled also the faint hint of the cologne that Murphy preferred. She was in Booth's old apartment. She didn't let on to Sully that she knew.

She was trying to get him to talk, to get him to explain why he was doing this, but the only answer she had gotten from him so far was,

"They're on to me. They'll know what I did."

She had no idea what he meant. She waited. She wondered if Booth would find out she was gone and think she had panicked and run away after their discussion in the airport. She wondered about her children and Max. She hoped that Max, when he arrived home and found she was gone, would alert the proper authorities. She thought that no one else would know that it was Sully who had taken her. She was going to have to get out of this one on her own. She thought her nose itched and she couldn't scratch it.

Eventually, through the blindfold, she could tell that the darkness of the room was fading, and dawn was breaking. It was getting lighter, and Sully's pacing was getting faster.

He sat next to her on the couch and sighed. She decided to try again to get information out of him.

"Sully, why are you doing this? What happened to you?"

"You happened Tempe. I love you so much, and I almost had you, but I lost you and then I couldn't handle it."

"Why are you doing this, there's no turning back you know."

"I know. That's why I'm going to kill you. If I can't have you, then sure as hell no one else can. For years I've been trying to take that guy out of the picture, but he just keeps living. So... now I've decided that by killing you, he will suffer for the rest of his life. The way I will."

Temperance sat quietly. She was thinking fast about what to say, some way to talk him out of whatever it was that he had planned.

"What we had was only a fling Sully. It was never serious." She said the wrong thing. She heard his sharp intake of breath.

"IT Was EVERYTHING to me!" He stood up and leaned over her, yelling in her face. "I loved you from the first second I saw your picture in the paper, after you had been kidnapped by the Gravedigger. I made sure I was the one to take Booth's place after he went crazy and shot that clown, that it was me that took his place as your partner! It was me you were supposed to sail away with and live happily ever after, but you ruined EVERYTHING!"

His outburst startled her at first, but she remained calm.

"What did you do Sully? Who's on to you?" She changed the subject back to their immediate situation.

"The FBI. They're about to find out that I killed Gavin Taffet. He knew that I've been working with the Gravedigger for years now. It was only a matter of time before he spilled. They're going to find out soon, and then it's all over for me. All for you, Tempe!"

"But why? Most people get over a relationship that didn't work. They don't obsess over it to the point of murder. What happened?" As long as she had him talking, she was buying time to discover a way out of this. She was surprised by his admittance of working with the Gravedigger. She wasn't ready to deal with that news yet.

"Because we were meant to be together, but you couldn't see that. It was right in front of your nose, but you never picked up on it. You only cared about Booth... you sailed away with him after we broke Heather out of prison...you decided instantly... it let me know that you never loved me, you only played with me for a little while. That hurt Tempe."

"I had a different view on relationships back then. Booth helped me to evolve. He helped me realize. He waited for me. I apologize if I hurt you. It was not my intention."

"Well, you did. You broke my heart."

The room was well lit now, and Temperance wondered what time it was. She knew Booth was flying back this morning, and she wondered how long until he would be back and looking for her. She felt the cold steel of Sully's gun press to her temple. She had to think fast now.

"Isn't there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

The gun moved away from her head and she felt Sully sit next to her on the couch again. She felt his hands fumble with the buttons on her shirt. She now panicked.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make love to you one last time. Something to remember you by. The last thing you will feel will be me, not Booth."

She felt him pull her shirt open and run his fingers down her now bare stomach. When his fingers reached the button of her jeans she made her move. She brought her knee up with force and felt the solid connection with his head. She hoped it was his head anyway. He slumped on the couch, but only for a second.

She felt the solid connection of the handle of the gun on her own head and lights flashed in her eyes. She fought unconsciousness, but lost when the gun whipped her again.

Sully stared at the unconscious woman on the couch. He had wanted her awake for this, but he would make the most of the opportunity anyway. He was distracted by fiddling with the button and zipper on her jeans and never heard someone approaching him from behind.

He felt the hand on his shoulder and felt himself fly backwards and then a huge fist connected with his jaw. Shot after shot connected with his face and head and eventually he saw the light dimming in his eyes. Before his eyes went completely dark, he saw the anger of Booth's dark brown eyes lock onto his. Another shot connected and he was out.

***

Temperance opened her eyes slowly. Someone was brushing her hair away from her forehead, and the memory of Sully came rushing back. She realized her hands were no longer handcuffed behind her back and she swung out without thinking. She felt connection and heard a familiar voice say,

"Ow, Bones...it's okay...It's me...I've got you, you're okay!"

Focus came to her eyes and she saw that Booth was kneeling beside her with a concerned look in his eyes. She sat up quickly and looked around. Sully was lying on the floor, the handcuffs that had once bound her, now were connected to his wrists. He was unconscious and she could see the broken bones in his face from where she was. Blood had pooled on the floor from his mouth and nose.

She looked back to Booth.

"How did you find me? Impeccable timing as usual..." She reached out to hug him and he leaned into her and held her tightly.

"I got the call from Murphy that they knew that Sully was the one working with the Gravedigger. Max said you were gone and I flew right back. I was just going to stop here and pick up the gun that I knew I had hidden in the closet. I walked in and saw what he was about to do you. He didn't...did he?" Booth's eyes had a mix of anger and sadness.

Temperance looked down and saw that her shirt was still unbuttoned. She looked back at Booth and shook her head. He reached for her to do the top button back up. She noticed the tears in his eyes.

"If he had hurt you, I would have killed him. I'm actually still considering it!"

They hugged again and she made the motion to stand up, but she was still a little woozy from the blow to her head. Booth caught her. They stood holding each other until a movement from the unconscious man on the floor distracted them. Sully was awake.

Booth went to him and pulled him up; Sully stared at Temperance before he spoke.

"Well, I guess you guys win again. You broke my heart Tempe. I hope you can live with that."

"I broke more than your heart. It would seem that I also broke your brain."

Booth couldn't help his laugh at her comment, and was rewarded by an evil glare from Sully.

"Watch out Booth, she'll break your heart too."

"No Sully, my heart belongs to her. It's hers to do with as she pleases. If she chooses to break it, it's hers to deal with." The smile on his partners face assured him that she would not do that. They were in this together, forever.

They walked towards the door; Sully in handcuffs and prepared to meet their backup outside. Booth had taken a second to call Cullen and let him know that they had their man. That everyone was safe. As Temperance reached for the doorknob, the door flew open and they were surprised by a man pointing his gun at them. The man spoke when the two partners stood there shocked and speechless,

"What? You two look like you've seen a ghost!"

Silence was the only thing heard for minutes. Finally it was disturbed by Booth's squeaking voice.

"Jared? What the hell? You died!"

Jared continued to point his weapon at Sully, but he smiled at his brother.

"No man. I went undercover. I've been working with Cullen to find out who was the dirty Agent with the FBI. We've been trying to find out for like two years, and we finally have him. I've been working undercover to keep you guys safe. What do you think of that hey big brother? Me protecting you. Ironic huh? There's no one but you guys, Cullen and him that know I'm alive. I could take him out and disappear if you want me too." He nodded his head towards Sully.

Booth hadn't taken his eyes off his brother. He, for just a second, was afraid that he was hallucinating again. He looked to Bones and saw her shocked look at Jared. He wasn't hallucinating if she could see him too.

He held his breath when Bones stepped between Jared and Sully and gently tried to pull the gun out of Jared's hand.

"Don't do it Jared, he's not worth it. He's not worth your life. We owe you, thank you."

Jared smiled at her. Giving up his life to protect his brother and his brother's partner had been worth it. He agreed that Sully was not. He let go of the gun and stepped back.

Sully snorted. Blood spewed from his nose when he did it.

"Another Booth chicken shit. Figures you wouldn't have the balls to do it..."

His statement was cut short when Bones turned towards him and fired a bullet into his leg. He screamed out in pain.

"You bitch!! Why would you do that?"

Both of the Booth brothers looked at her in surprise. They had identical looks on their faces and they both looked like her daughter. She smiled.

"What? He was trying to run away and I had to stop him. You both saw it right?"

They both nodded with open mouths. She looked at the wounded man who had, unbeknownst to her until very recently, caused her so much grief over the years.

"That was for threatening my children. And for being an ass."

They continued down the hallway; Booth practically dragging Sully to the outside. He had no sympathy for the man's pain.

They were greeted outside by a multitude of police cars and FBI personal. Cullen grabbed Sully from Booth's grip and launched him into a nearby cruiser. Murphy approached the couple with an apology, he was sorry that he had failed them and they both assured him that it was alright. It wasn't his fault.

They both hugged him and he looked better. Cullen pulled Murphy away saying that he needed to talk to the man. Booth and Brennan wondered what it could be about, but their attention went back to Jared as the other two walked away, deep in discussion.

Booth was the first to give him a hug, Bones followed suit.

"How did you get involved in all this?" Booth asked his brother. Jared smiled.

"Well, after your kidnapping by the Gravedigger, and I had done the 'Spring Cleaning' on Heather Taffet, I discovered that someone in the FBI had regularly been accessing her file, but we couldn't figure out who. Someone tried to take me out, and Cullen came to me with the proposition to go undercover and figure out who it was. I had nothing to lose, you hated me, Dad was disappointed in me, as usual...and it seemed like a good idea at the time, and now...I guess I'm back!"

Booth smiled at his little brother.

"One doesn't often get an opportunity to take back things they've said to people who have died, but I am sorry for the things I said to you that night. I spoke in anger and I've always regretted it."

"Don't even worry about Seel; a lot has happened since that night hey?" He smiled at Bones who had been standing at Booth's side, holding his hand.

"You said it buddy. Say... do you want to come over and meet your niece and nephew?"

"That sounds good man."

The three of them headed towards Booth's rental car and headed for home.

The Gravedigger business was over. For real. Finally.

**

**

_one more chapter..._


	10. The Rainbow Socks after the storm

**Monday...**

Doctor Brennan sat behind her desk at the Medico-Legal lab of the Jeffersonian. She had only been at work for about an hour and already Max had called her three times to ask if she was okay or to ask her something about the kids. She smiled to herself. It was time to look for a nanny. She had asked Murphy last night if he would be interested, but he said he had already been offered a job. He refused to tell her where though. He had been very secretive about it. She had wished him well. She would miss him. He had become part of her family over the last few years and there were few people that she trusted more.

Jared had spent the night with them, but he had been gone in the morning to who knows where. He had left a note saying he would be in touch.

Her attention was drawn from her thoughts to the door of the office where Angela and Hodgins were about to knock. She stood up to give them both a hug. Angela beamed, so did her husband. They had finally gone through with their wedding in Vegas and they both looked so happy.

Angela went on to tell Brennan all about her amazing weekend and she listened with interest. Hodgins excused himself, he had some tests to run on something and eventually Angela said that she also needed to return to work. Before she left the office, she asked,

"Sweetie, how was your weekend? Everything okay with you guys?"

"Everything is perfect. You know same old, same old." Her words were mysterious, but slightly sad, and Angela let it go as another personality trait she had picked up from Booth over the past years. Brennan made no effort to elaborate.

"Good to have you back. Want to do lunch later? We can start planning your wedding!"

"Sounds good." Temperance smiled and went back to the attention of her laptop. She told Angela nothing of her weekend. She didn't want to kill her best friend's buzz.

She was on the phone with her publisher, who wanted to set up a book signing now that she was back in town to promote the book she had written while she was on 'vacation', when Booth walked into her office and smiled at her. She smiled back and flashed a 'just a minute' gesture at him. He sat on the chair across from her and put his feet up on the desk and revealed his brightly striped socks to her. She smiled at them. It felt so good to be back. Everything was falling back into place. He scanned her face as she spoke on the phone. She seemed fine, but he still worried about her. She didn't seem to be letting the events of the weekend hold her back. Same old Bones.

She hung up the phone and got up and went around the desk to kiss him on the cheek. She fixed his tie and kissed him again. He flushed just a little bit and she smiled. She had forgotten how good he looked in a suit. He stood up and went to the coat rack where she had hung her jacket upon arrival earlier that morning and pulled it off of the hook where it rested.

"So Bones... do you want the good news or the bad news?" He stood close to her and smiled charmingly at her.

"Ah...good news."

"Okay, the good news is that we have a body." She looked surprised.

"How is that good news Booth?"

"Because that gives us a chance to break in our new partner. New kid...Cullen asked us to show him the ropes."

"I still don't see how that's good news..."

"Because I think you'll like our new partner."

"I doubt it... although I guess I did like you eventually." She grinned at him with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Thanks Bones, I liked you too eventually." He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close and kissed her very slowly and tenderly. She broke away from his lips, but he kissed her neck instead.

"So what's the bad news?"

"I can't remember right now... something about a body..." He replied between kisses. He didn't notice her sneak her hand into his jacket pocket and quietly pull his keys out. She slipped them into her own pocket without missing a beat.

They were interrupted by a voice coming from the doorway.

"If you guys are almost done, can we go catch some bad guys?" They both looked at Murphy, who was wearing a very nice suit and smiling broadly. Bones looked shocked.

"He's our new partner? Wow... I do like him already!" Booth held her coat open for her, but she just grabbed it out of his hands and headed for the door.

Murphy waited for Booth and then the two of them walked out together.

"Thanks Buddy, it takes me four years to get her to admit she likes me, and you have her hooked in seconds. Well, now at least you get to see us in action!" Booth clapped the shoulder of his friend. Bones was waiting for them to catch up.

"Oooh. Sexy. I can't wait."

"Murphy please, we've decided to remain professional while we are in the field." Bones looked slightly annoyed at his comment, but her eyes betrayed some humour.

"I was just kidding Bones. Your office is obviously not considered the 'field'. That's my first lesson." Murphy laughed at her as he wrote something on the little note pad he pulled from his pocket and she turned and kept walking towards the door, but she turned back towards him before she went through it.

"You are not going to stop calling me that are you?"

"Nope." She rolled her eyes and left the lab.

Murphy and Booth both laughed and bumped fists as Booth opened the door.

"I told you I would get her to let me call her that..."

"Yes you did. After you partner..." Booth held the door and made a sweeping gesture at Murphy.

"Thanks partner!"

They followed after their female counterpart and Booth looked at Murphy carefully.

"Nice suit."

"Thanks. I found it in your closet." Murphy laughed as he fixed his tie.

*

As they approached Booth's newly commissioned vehicle, he noticed Bones standing there with a sparkle in her eye. He wondered what she knew that he didn't.

"I'm driving!" She flashed the keys in front of him.

"Shotgun!" Murphy called.

"No way man, I get the front seat... how did you get those?"

"I'll never tell! And Murphy called shotgun....those are the rules Booth."

"How do you even know the rules for shotgun?" He grudgingly got in the backseat and noticed Bones and Murphy bump fists across the centre console.

"I do have an older brother Booth. We may have travelled in car together before." She smiled at him through the rear view mirror as she started the vehicle.

Booth sat quietly in the backseat. He held on tightly to the armrest as she peeled out of the parking lot. He swore they were on two tires as they turned the first corner. It was going to be a long trip. His phone rang in his pocket and he noticed the number was coming from their place.

"Booth." He answered.

The two in the front seats listened as he spoke to Max. They only heard his side of the conversation as they went towards the crime scene that awaited their expertise.

"Max! You have to watch her! She might seem like a teenager sometimes, but she's still just a toddler... don't worry about it... Bones will clean it up when we get home. It's okay... She won't be that mad at you...Yes, I'm sure. Okay, talk to you later." He clicked the phone shut and met her eyes in the rear view mirror again.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Max said he turned his back for just a second, and Payton got into the cupboard and opened all the pudding and proceeded to finger paint the kitchen with chocolate." She laughed from the front seat.

"She is so completely your daughter! And why do I have to clean it up? Just because I am the female in this relationship, it should not be automatically assumed that all domestic chores should be my responsiblity..."

"Because you bought it and put it where she could get to it. Yeah, she's my daughter when she's painted the kitchen with chocolate...when is she your daughter?"

"Trust me Booth, that little girl is all you! I bought the pudding for you...that should count for something. It's technically yours; you should have to clean it!"

The argument paused...

Everyone in the car laughed. Murphy turned a little bit in his seat so he was facing Booth in the back.

"Are you guys always like this at work?"

The partners nodded with smiles.

"This is going to be fun!" Murphy turned back around to face the front.

Bones met Booth's eyes in the mirror again and he winked at her.

Everything was back to normal. Such as it ever was.

***

**

*

The End...

Of the Gravedigger Case...

*

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_A/N:_

_From me,_

_I just want to explain quickly here, this story was originally going be quite a bit longer with lots of drama, and evil cliffies, and the development and history of Murphy,and so much more... but summer plans have been bumped and I felt I should at least finish the gravedigger business before I go. There are a few sub-plots and flashbacks that I ignored, to complete the story as best I could so as not to leave you (and I heart you all. I really do) all hanging for too long. Sorry if I missed anything. I really plan to come back to this story eventually, but the summer beckons, as does the cottage...so..._

_Thank you Thank you Thank You Thank YOU, to everyone who read this story. Even if you hated it, thank you for reading!!!!_

_It was a blast I've had writing it._

_Dang-it... there's been a Star Wars marathon in my house all weekend and everyone is talking like Yoda. Now I'm writing like that. Sweet._

_P.S. While I was writing the scene where Brennan shoots Sully, the scene from 'Return of the Jedi' where Princess Leia was choking Jabba the Hutt was playing, and a strange crossover came to mind. Picture Brennan in that Bikini Costume, choking Sully the Hutt to the point where his 'death rattle' was heard. Tell me that's not a little funny... (If you have never seen the movie, I apologize...that probably wasn't funny at all!)_

_The oldman is still giggling occasionally. Whatta sport. XO_

_Anyway, sorry this is the longest Author's note I've ever left, so, I'll wrap it up_

_Thank you again. I really mean that. _

_Tapping out here._

_*_


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